KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan men's basketball team will set out on its 2016 European Tour tomorrow, visiting three countries and playing four games over 10 days, Aug. 21-31.

During the trip abroad, the team will be sending updates back through wmubroncos.com, as well as through Twitter (@WMUMBB) and their newly-refreshed Facebook account (facebook.com/wmumbb).

The Broncos depart from Detroit the evening of Sunday, Aug. 21 and arrive in the Netherlands, Monday, Aug. 22, where they will stay in Amsterdam for their first three days. The first game of the tour will be on Tuesday, Aug. 23, against the Meppel Giants.

On Thursday, Aug. 25, Western Michigan will bus from Amsterdam into Belgium, arriving in the city of Ghent. Their second game of the trip is that evening against Duva Gistel and the Broncos will return to the floor the following night against Waregem on Friday.

On Saturday, Aug. 27, Western Michigan makes the trek into France by bus, first settling in the Normandy region, Aug. 27-28, before heading to Paris to close out the trip, Aug. 29-30. While in Paris, WMU plays its final game on Aug. 29 against Sceaux. The Broncos begin their return to the United States on Aug. 31.  

Outside of basketball, the many cultural experiences planned are walking tours of Amsterdam, Ghent and Paris, the Vincent Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, visits to the Normandy landing beaches and World War II memorials and while in Paris, the Broncos will sight-see the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Seine River by boat.

NCAA programs are afforded the opportunity to participate in a summer tour or an in-season tour once every four years. Foreign tours not only allow teams to get an invaluable head start on the competition, they also enable student-athletes a chance to travel abroad they might not otherwise have due to the high demands of collegiate athletics.

Leading up to the trip, Western Michigan was allowed 10 practice days, which the team spread out over the last three weeks. The first of those days was Monday, Aug. 1, marking the first time the six returning Broncos and the eight freshmen (two redshirts and six true newcomers) took the floor together in a true practice format with the coaching staff.

The Broncos return six players from last year's roster, including the top three scorers in junior point guard Thomas Wilder (18.0 ppg), senior wing man Tucker Haymond (15.9 ppg) and junior post Drake LaMont (7.8 ppg). Wilder was a Second-Team All-Mid-American Conference selection and led the MAC in scoring during conference games from start to finish, averaging 20.4 ppg against league opposition.

Other returners include sophomores Josh Davis, Seth Dugan and Bryce Moore. Moore and Dugan saw their numbers grow in their first year and Davis had flashes of superb potential but had his freshman campaign slowed down by injuries.

WMU has two returning redshirt freshmen, 5-9 guard Ryan Wade and 6-4 combo forward Joeviair Kennedy. Rounding out the roster are six true freshmen eager to get their careers started at Western Michigan, 5-10 guard Brandon Allen, 6-6 forward Adida Ikongshul, 6-8 forward Brandon Johnson, 6-5 wing Reggie Jones, 6-4 guard Jared Printy and 5-11 guard Jarrin Randall.