Tennessee has cancelled a summer trip to Italy for its basketball team.  Two reasons were given for the switch: travel and Cuonzo Martin’s duties at the World University Games.

According to athletic director Mike Hamilton, the trip would have been difficult from a travel perspective with the Vols also now heading to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational in November.

In addition, Martin is scheduled to serve on the staff of Purdue’s Matt Painter when he coaches the US team in the World University Games in China in August.  Training will be held for that event in Colorado from July 30th through August 8th.

“It will be better to wait a year for the trip because then we can get a feel for our players,” Martin said.  “When you take those trips, you’re also building team camaraderie.  It’s always a beneficial trip, playing five or six games and getting extra practice.”

For those reasons, it would seem to actually make more sense to take the trip this year, as Martin is laying the foundation for his program.  But let’s face facts — you don’t back out after you accept a position coaching a US national team.

Also, with Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris possibly NBA-bound, the Vols might have had a hard time even filling out a roster this summer.

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You had to feel good for Jon Hood. The sophomore scored 18 points and dished four assists. He made seven of nine shots, including four of six from behind the three-point line.

Afterward, Hood said he felt pretty confident after the shoot-around, and that “We started to click” in the win over the Bleu Devils. Hood also said that Terrence Jones “is really good when he plays like he did tonight.”

As for himself, Hood said he has worked on his defense, and his ball-handling. “I’ve come a long way since last year as a player,” he said, also crediting the summer basketball he played in China as helping his development.