RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team will take a summer trip to Costa Rica in August, first-year head coach A.W. Hamilton announced on Wednesday.
 
The Colonels will depart on Tuesday, August 7 and return on Sunday, August 12.
 
EKU will play three games while staying in San Jose, Costa Rica's capital. The Colonels will face Laurentian University (of Ontario) on August 8 at 8:00 p.m. ET, San Ramon on August 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET and Laurentian University again on August 10 at 2:00 p.m. ET.
 
The Colonels will also visit the Holy Spirit Orphanage for a service project while in Costa Rica. Other planned excursions include a zipline canopy tour and 'Crocodile Bridge' (home to some of the largest crocodiles in the world).
 
"My staff and I are extremely excited about taking the team to Costa Rica," Hamilton said. "It will give us a great opportunity to bond and build our brand of exciting basketball."
 
NCAA rules allow college basketball programs to take an international trip once every four years. The Colonels travelled to Australia in the summer of 2014.
 
EKU will hold eight open practices at Alumni Coliseum leading up to the Costa Rica trip. All Colonel fans are encouraged to attend.
 
Any fan who attends an open practice will be entered into a raffle, with four winners drawn on August 6. Two of the winners will travel with the Colonels to Knoxville for their game against Tennessee on November 28. The other two winners will travel with the team to Cincinnati for the Colonels' game against Xavier on December 15.
 
The dates and times of the open practices are as follows:
 
July 24 – 7:00 p.m.
July 30 – 7:00 p.m.
July 31 – 7:00 p.m.
August 1 – 7:00 p.m.
August 2 – 7:00 p.m.
August 3 – 10:30 a.m.
August 5 – 7:00 p.m.
August 6 – 6:30 p.m.
 
"I really look forward to seeing Colonel fans at our open practices," Hamilton added. "They will be so proud of the team's effort. Our EKU family and the Richmond community are extremely important to this program."
 
EKU is expected to return eight lettermen from last season, including senior forward Nick Mayo, a three-time first team All-Ohio Valley Conference performer. Mayo averaged 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds-per-game in 2017-18.