Bruce Pearl, ESPN's Jay Bilas, Roxy Bernstein preview Auburn's 'once-in-a-lifetime' trip to Israel

AUBURN – Bruce Pearl and the Auburn basketball program are preparing for their summer trip to Israel.

Pearl’s team will head overseas for the inaugural “Birthright for College Basketball” tour, with the Tigers heading to Israel on July 31 for a 10-day trip that will wrap up Aug. 10. During the tour, Auburn will play in three exhibition games against Israel’s top teams.

Auburn will play the Israel U-20 National Team on Aug. 2 at Malha Arena in Jerusalem, followed by back-to-back games against the Israel All-Star select team on Aug. 7 and the Israel National Team on Aug. 8 at Sport Palace Tel Aviv Yafo in Tel Aviv. Games will be played in front of fans and will be played using FIBA rules, including a four-quarter format as opposed to the two-half setup used in NCAA competition.

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The games will be televised on the SEC Network. ESPN analysts Jay Bilas and Roxy Bernstein will call the games. The trio spoke to the media on Monday in advance of the overseas tour. Here’s what they had to say:

Bruce Pearl on the importance of the trip

I’m so grateful to Auburn and the NCAA. Auburn is going to allow us to take my kids to Israel and experience something that could be once in a lifetime. One of the things our guys are going to find out is that they love their basketball in Israel and they’re good. We’re going to get all we want. From the NCAA standpoint, the rule about going overseas is a great rule. Let’s not ever give that up. Go all over the world. This is a great thing. We want them to go with their eyes and ears open. It’s an opportunity for them to open their hearts and minds to see if they can hear and feel something special.

When you think about your greatest moments in life — it was because of who you shared it with. We’re going to share this trip together, see things for the first time that we’ll never forget. That’ll give us a chance to come together and get to know each other better.

I’m grateful to ESPN for going with us and telling this story. I’m hoping that what we create is an every-year thing. This isn’t done, but this is my dream and vision. Next year, we make this a two-country stop. We play in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), compete against their teams, then we go to Israel and compete against some of their teams, and call it the “Abraham Cup,” or the “Abraham Accords Cup.” How can we contribute to peace in the middle east? Normalization. We’re going over to play basketball. There may have been a time when people thought that wasn’t a good idea — that’s why we want to try and do that.

Pearl on his expectations for team development

We may have a different starting lineup each game. The last game against the Israeli national team — that’s going to be the most challenging game of all. I want to start someone different every game. I’m not trying to determine who my best player is right now. We’ve only had a summer. We have to put this thing together. I have August, September, October, I have plenty of time for those guys to show me who they are. We’ll share the sugar. I may have a couple guys that don’t even dress for every game. Our basic stuff will be in. The 24-second shot clock, I’m tooling with more pressure and little more zone, those guys will shoot well, so we have to be careful with the zone. That’ll be different than the 30-second shot clock. We’ll be playing four quarters — that’ll be different.

Pearl on what he hopes his team takes away from the trip

You have to let them take away what they want to take away. Seeing is believing living it — you ask anyone in Israel, ‘what can we do?’ They tell you, ‘come back. Send someone else over.’ That’s all. That’s what we’ll do. We’re going to let them experience things. The best thing they’re going to do is walk around Jerusalem. That’s the best thing they’re going to do. The world becomes small when you go over there. It’s a very small world when you’re somewhere else you never thought you’d be. It’s going to effect them as fathers, adults. That’s what we hope to get out of it.

Jay Bilas, Roxy Bernstein on tagging along with Auburn on the trip

Bilas: We couldn’t be more honored to be traveling with Auburn for this once-in-a-lifetime trip. We’re thrilled beyond words. I played on a foreign tour in college — it was a good education for us beyond basketball. more than anything, it served to bring our team together more than any other experience we had during the four years. When you’re spending that much time together and at the same time competing — there was nothing that helped our development more than that trip. Auburn will find that at a high level with this trip to Israel. When we were asked to do this, my answer was, ‘absolutely, can I please do this?’ Anything that Auburn needs, they got. I can’t wait to join them on this trip.

Bernstein: I couldn’t wait to say yes fast enough when they proposed this opportunity. I went to Israel four years ago with my family and it was a life-changing experience. Here’s the opportunity to go back four years later and I’m so excited to see what they have to offer. The amazing culture and history they’re about to embark on.

Bilas on the overall significance of Auburn’s trip to Israel

I think the significance is almost beyond what can be put into words. There’s a special feeling that everyone takes from this trip. The cultural and historic value, but where things are geo-politically, we’re going to learn a lot from this trip. The fact that it has so much faith-based significance for the people on the trip will be of special significance. I don’t think anybody is throwing that word ‘special’ around, and I’m certainly not going to take how special this trip is going to be for granted. These things, as far as a team coming closer together, Auburn’s a close team and program already. Teams take trips that are great — I think this has the opportunity to be the most significant trip I’ve ever heard of, frankly. For a close program to get even closer together, and do it with the setting of Israel, will have longterm benefits and ramifications that none of us can even fathom right now. It’s one thing to tell someone something, it’s another to have them feel it. Everyone involved will feel the significance of this trip on a deeper level.

Auburn hoops Israel schedule, TV times

Aug. 2 – Auburn vs. Israel U-20 National Team | Malha Arena | Jerusalem, Israel (Free Admission)

Noon (CT) / 1 p.m. (ET) / 8 p.m. (Local Time in Israel) on SEC Network

Aug. 7 – Auburn vs. Israel All-Star Select Team | Hader Yosef Gym | North Tel Aviv, Israel (Free Admission)

Noon (CT) / 1 p.m. (ET) / 8 p.m. (Local Time in Israel) on SEC Network

Aug. 8 – Auburn vs. Israel National Team | Sport Palace Tel Aviv Yafo | Tel Aviv, Israel (Ticketed Game)

Noon (CT) / 1 p.m. (ET) / 8 p.m. (Local Time in Israel) on SEC Network

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