SPOKANE, Wash. – Basketball players from across the region and the country will be heading to Spokane for Hoopfest, and this year, international guests from Pistoia Basket, a club team in Italy, will also be in attendance.
Pistoia Basket is partnering with Gonzaga University (GU) for Hoopfest.
The club’s two teams (male and female teams) will play at Hoopfest. Their players are teenagers.
GU has a long history with the club. GU has even done study abroad programs in Italy with Pistoia Basket.
“We just had a really good opportunity with Pistoia Basket. They had a lot of interest in Gonzaga, they knew about Gonzaga, they wanted to work with us. They’re also trying to grow their own brand internationally. And so, we just felt like this was a unique opportunity that we wanted to capitalize on,” Ryan Turcott, an associate professor at GU in the department of Kinesiology and Sport Management, said.
GU and Pistoia Basket are in a 3-year partnership.
For many of the Italian players, this trip is their first time in the U.S.
