WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Three Lycoming College men’s basketball players are part of the 10-player East Coast All-Stars, coached by Lycoming’s head coach, Guy Rancourt, that will head out for an eight-day trip on Aug. 6 that will feature stops in Switzerland and France.
The Warrior trio of seniors Will Kelly (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Township), Sebastian Sabella (Bayside, N.Y./Episcopal) and Ethan Lee (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) will depart from Newark, N.J. for Geneva, Switzerland, with a group that includes players from Division I-schools Kansas State, Harvard, Notre Dame, Purdue, Arkansas and St. John’s.
The trip will feature two games against the Swiss National Team in Geneva before the team heads to Paris, France, where the East Coast All-Stars will face the Tunisian National Team and two pro French teams.
Rancourt has run the East Coast All-Stars since 2006, helping guide the 2009 squad to an undefeated run during its trip to the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Before the trip, Lycoming players, Kelly and Sabella, sat down with athletics.lycoming.edu to talk about their expectations for the trip.
Q&A with Will Kelly
Athletics.Lycoming.edu: What are you most looking forward to on the trip?
Will Kelly: It will just be the experience. I have never been overseas before. It will give me a good taste of the culture and everything. It’ll just give me a little bit different experience than America and like my mom said, it’ll help me be a little more well-rounded. I’m also excited just to play basketball. Having played all three years in college, it’s nice to get a little reward to go over there and experience getting to play against some of the best players in the world. It’ll be a blast and I’m really hyped for it.
AL: What team are you most looking forward to playing?
WK: I’m looking forward to playing Switzerland. They are a very good team and we aren’t sure if he will be allowed to play, but Thabo Sefoloshaof the Oklahoma City Thunder is on the Swiss team, and maybe getting to play and compete on the same court with him will be really cool. We just want to get over there and see what we can do.
AL: When you are off the court, what are you most looking forward to?
WK: I’m looking forward to the culture, seeing the museums. The Louvre (in Paris), my aunt has been there a couple times and she said it’s a great place to check out. Sebastian’s parents have been over a couple times and they said there are a ton of hot spots to check out. The surroundings, just being in a different country, the experience is going to be a lot of fun.
AL: How do you think this trip with Sebastian and Ethan will help the Warriors when it comes time for Lycoming’s season to start?
WK: It’s awesome. All three of us are going to be a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish and just getting to spend some more time with them and create some more chemistry will be great. They are already some of my best friends, but just getting to spend more time with them, maybe tell some of the guys coming in about the experience we had and to get them excited for what this program and this family has to offer for them, that will take us places this year.
Q&A with Sebastian Sabella
AL: What are you looking forward to most about the trip?
Sebastian Sabella: Seeing the countries that I have never seen before and playing with a group of guys I’ve never played with before. It’s going to be interesting meeting new people and seeing new places, which is always exciting - getting a chance to expand my horizons.
AL: Who are you most looking forward to playing with?
SS: Probably Jamar (Samuels, a junior forward from Kansas State). He seems to be the most athletic. He had a couple highlight reel dunks earlier during practice.
AL: What team are you most looking forward to playing?
SS: Probably the Swiss National Team. They will give us the most competition and they are probably the most well-known team we’ll play.
AL: What place off the court are you most interested in seeing?
SS: Probably the Eiffel Tower, or maybe the Louvre in Paris. There is some good architecture there and great history. It’ll be good to see the scenery and how different it is from where we all come from.
AL: How do you think this trip with Will and Ethan will help the Warriors when it comes time for Lycoming’s season to start?
SS: It’ll be a good beginning for us - we haven’t played together since last season so this will be a good start to our senior season. Hopefully, we will be going in a good direction, coming off a winning tour and we’ll be able to bring that experience to the freshmen coming in to build a foundation that will help us have a good season.