Sophomore forward Isaiah Maurice will compete on the international stage this summer with the Athletes in Action (AIA) Tour to the Czech Republic and Poland, May 23 to June 5.
Maurice will depart the U.S., on Tuesday, May 23 and begin a training camp with the 10-member Athletes in Action squad in Prague, Czech Republic on Wednesday–Saturday, May 24-27. The team will play the first of five games on Sunday, May 28 against the U-20 Czech National Team before playing the Czech team again on Monday, May 29. The squad will fly to Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, May 30, where they will speak to high schools and do a clinic before playing three games against the Belarus National Team on Friday–Sunday, June 2-4.
The AIA team will return home on Monday, June 5.
Maurice will be joined on the AIA trip by Micah Bradford (Valparaiso), Zach Brown (Wichita State), Ignacy Grochowski (U20 Polish Team), Jalen Hudson (Florida), Jay Huff (Virginia), Tyson Jolly(Baylor), Travion Kirkendoll (Centenary), Wendell Mitchell (Baylor) and Derrik Smits (Valparaiso). The team will be coached by Valparaiso assistant coach Luke Gore as well as St. Francis Catholic High School coach Billy Donovan, Jr.
It marks the third time in the last five seasons that a K-State player will participate in the Athletes in Action Tour and the first since former Wildcats Brandon Bolden and Justin Edwards played with the squad in their tour of Estonia and Latvia in August 2014. Thomas Gipson and Jevon Thomas also played on the tour in 2013.
Maurice will look to use the experience to build on a solid end to his redshirt freshman season in 2016-17, in which, the Durham, N.C., native averaged 5.9 points on 64.3 percent shooting (18-of-28) in 11.9 minutes per game in the team’s last seven games, including two in the NCAA Tournament. Overall, he averaged 3.0 points on 58.6 percent shooting (41-of-70) with 2.0 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in playing in 30 games for the Wildcats.
Maurice is among nine returning lettermen for the Wildcats in 2017-18 for a squad that won 21 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third team in five seasons. K-State will welcome five newcomers (juniors Makol Mawien and Amaad Wainright and freshmen Mike McGuirl, Nigel Shadd and Levi Stockard III) as well as redshirt freshmen Cartier Diarra and James Love III, who missed the 2016-17 season due to injury.