Befitting a team brimming with international talent, the VCU basketball Rams will soon be making an international excursion.

Coach Ryan Odom’s squad will travel to Greece July 31 to Aug. 9 to play three exhibition games and take in a lot sightseeing in and around Athens.

VCU’s foreign-born players include Michael Belle and Tobi Lawal from Great Britain, Sean Bairstow from Australia and Max Shulga from Ukraine.

Bairstow and Shulga are transfers from Utah State. Lawal, a rising sophomore, is the lone returnee among the bunch. Belle and Patrick will be freshmen.

This is truly a reward in advance. Only four of the players and none of the coaches traveling to Greece have ever been a part of a VCU game.