By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Xavier's men's basketball team will get some Italian flavor this summer if plans are completed to take a team trip to the European country.

Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski confirmed that information Monday, saying only the final details of the trip need to be worked out. Those include exact dates, length of stay and the teams Xavier would play.

The trip will most likely take place in August, Bobinski said. The cost has yet to be determined and will vary due to airfare and lodging costs, but it should be in the area of $50,000.

"I'd like to have it finalized by the end of the year," Bobinski said.

Xavier coach Thad Matta said that shouldn't be a problem, although finalizing the trip isn't the primary concern for the No.16 Musketeers, who have a week of practice before their Dec.3 game with Purdue.

But the trip is important for building team cohesiveness, not to mention the extra practice.

"Well, you get 10 practices, and you get to play games," Matta said. "I took a team over there (to Finland) when I was at Butler, and it's good to get team togetherness."

Xavier would play international club teams while in Italy. Most college teams that travel abroad are concerned less with wins and losses than with improving as a team.

The last time Xavier went overseas was in the summer of 2000, when the women's team visited Finland, coincidentally, one week before Matta's Butler team. The last men's team trip was to Ireland in 1997.

"Guys have to live together and they get to know each other a little better," Bobinski said. "And it also exposes them to a culture and other things that they wouldn't get to see."

The NCAA allows schools to travel overseas once every four years. Currently, only players who are enrolled in school may travel, which means that next year's incoming freshmen - Robert Barker, Justin Doellman and Boubacar Coly - couldn't make the trip.

Two Xavier assistants, Sean Miller and John Groce, have been to Italy as assistant coaches with North Carolina State.

WOMEN SIGN FOUR: McGuff signed four players to national letters of intent Monday, including North College Hill's Michelle Miller.

Others in the 2003 freshman class are Chelsea Chowning from Lexington (Ky.) Catholic, Miranda Green of Indianapolis Pike High and Chenara Wilson from Cleveland East Tech.

E-mail: ddow@enquirer.com