Michigan basketball team to visit U.S. Army post in Vicenza on Italy tour

Submitted by Raoul on

From Stars and Stripes, here are details on a nice addition to the Michigan basketball Italy tour:

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team will visit the army base Caserma Del Din in Vicenza on Wednesday, Aug. 20, as part of a multi-stop Italian hoops tour.

The Wolverines will start their base visit by serving lunch to and dining with servicemembers at 11:30 a.m., said Rob Veney, coach of the post’s military basketball program and an organizer of the event in conjunction with MWR. At 1 p.m., the team will meet with soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and 509th Signal Battalion, then conclude their visit with a shootaround and autograph signing from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

I don't want to copy the entire article, but the next paragraph has details on the four games the Wolverines will play (includiing the 6.90 euro admission price for each game in Vicenza), for anyone who hasn't seen the rundown yet.

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Raoul

August 3rd, 2014 at 10:11 AM ^

Here are a few details on the base, which opened just last summer, from a March 2013 Stars and Stripes article:

The 145-acre facility cost the U.S. more than $300 million. It will be home to four of the six battalions of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. There are 31 new buildings and 10 originally built by the Italian military.

The newly built installation will house the 173rd headquarters, two battalions currently based in Germany, and one infantry battalion and the 509th Signal Battalion, both of which are currently located at Ederle.

“Del Din was conceived and designed for the 173rd Brigade, but since 2005, US Army Africa has grown in Vicenza,” said Buckingham. “All of U.S. Army Africa is anticipated to occupy Del Din – half will move this summer and the rest over the next few years.”

About 2,000 soldiers will work on the base and about half that number will live there.

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Thorin

August 3rd, 2014 at 10:27 AM ^

The new caserma probably sucks for the soldiers. Caserma Ederle was so small that they paid almost all of us to live off-post. Good times.

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ypsituckyboy

August 3rd, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^

Speaking of MBB, don't be surprised if Jon Teske commits today. Apparently OSU has basically stopped recruiting him since they're loaded with bigs, and he's taking a bit of a surprise visit this afternoon.

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Raoul

August 3rd, 2014 at 2:29 PM ^

Also, here are the dates for P.J. Dozier's five official visits. He's visiting Michigan the weekend of the Minnesota football game.

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