The Arkansas State men's basketball team embarks on a nine-day 2022 Summer Foreign Tour to the Dominican Republic Aug. 5-13. In addition to playing games against the Dominican Republic Senior National Team (Aug. 7), Dominican Republic Select Team (Aug. 8) and the Dominican Republic U-22 Team (Aug. 10), the trip will feature activities and site-seeing. Each day's activities will be documented below, including video highlights, photos, interviews and other items surrounding the day's events via head coach Mike Balado. It will be updated daily so fans can keep track of the Red Wolves throughout their time in the Dominican Republic.

August 5 | 9:40 AM | Departure 

Well here we are!  Love seeing the excitement of our guys loading the bus and talking about the upcoming trip to the Dominican Republic. We were lucky enough to have room on the bus for a number of guests and donors who made the trip. This is a great time for our players to connect and network with these individuals that are so special to A-State. Bus is set to leave at 10am. It’s 9:40am and everyone is ready to go early. Either they are really excited or know the bus will leave no matter what at 10:00 am. Lol. Be early and be ready!

 Checking back soon when we board our plane!  Stay tuned. Wolves Up!!

August 5 | 3:38 PM | Arrival 

Greetings from the Dominican Republic Red Wolves faithful!  It was a smooth ride from Memphis direct to Puerto Plata. Plane was, let’s say, a hoot!  Not a dull moment with this crew. Big thank you to Swift Air and their services for our party. Deplaned and headed to Be Live Collection Marien Resort. Can’t wait to get situated and kick back for the rest of the night. Some things on the agenda for tonight:
? Team Film for our upcoming game
?  A welcome dinner for all A-State fans and players on the island. 
? Staff meeting to go over practice tomorrow and film of our upcoming opponent, The Dominican Republic Senior National Team.
Will check back after hotel check in and some pictures of the resort. 
Stay Tuned!  WolvesUp!!

August 6 | 12:25 PM | Practice

The team had their first practice this morning in the Dominican Republic. They went hard and it was the one of our best practices yet! We have far to go, but day by day, they make me excited. We had a group of about 50 kids from the neighborhood watching our guys today. The players took photos, played 1v1 versus some and even gave their shirt off their back to some of these little guys, literally!  I was so proud of them that the coaches and staff joined in. People don’t realize how trips like this bring team unity. Tune in for more day by day details.

August 7 | 5:45 PM | Postgame

What an experience to play vs the Dominican Senior National team. It was great for our guys to go against all that talent. Ten Professionals on that team with over 60 years of experience between all of them playing at the highest level in Europe and the Caribbean. 
Was proud of our teams effort. We didn't back down and made multiple runs to put us in position to close the gap. We played 11 guys in the first half. Wanted to see everyone and what they brought to the table. Really impressed with freshman Terrance Ford. He was the highlight of the day. Along with Omar El-Sheik who led us in scoring and rebounding with 20 pts, 12 rebounds. Long way to go, but this is what this trip is for. So many new faces and building that chemistry will be vital for the upcoming season. On to the next, Dominican Select team tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. (CT)

August 8 | 11:30 AM | Film Session

GREAT film session this morning with the team. Guys were engaged and focused. Excellent questions and comments by all that played. We're making adjustments on the fly, but that’s what we want. Defensively it came down to transition defense and giving up way too many three's. We can not give pro's any daylight as they will make you pay. Happy with our offensive output as we scored 78 points and shot close to 50% for the game. With that said, our assist numbers need to be higher. We assisted on 46% of our baskets. Last year we were top 25 in all of Division I with 67% of our baskets assisted on. We need to get that number back up tonight. Looking forward to getting back out on the court at 5:00 p.m. (CT).

August 9 | 1:20 PM | Practice Day

Hello Red Wolf faithful! It is a beautiful day from Puerta Plata!  Getting the day started and reminiscing a great W. I played 11 guys who all brought their A game. It was fast paced and a upbeat atmosphere. There were times when I saw the guys click, run plays and execute and this is just game two of the season. To me, the second thing that was most important is I called plays and the guys understood and did it and it resulted in baskets. That’s how we excel to the next level! Our bench, fans and coaches all had high energy and are buying in!

Practice today will be a low key run through as these guys are fatigued and dehydrated from playing in a 90degree arena. Guys are cramping but pushing through. No excuses though, this just makes us better.

After practice we are holding a free basketball clinic for local children so we can give back. We have also brought numerous boxes of clothes and items for the locals because giving is always better then receiving.

Beach/pool later today to relax and then game tomorrow at 1:00pm (CT)

August 10 | 8:25 PM | Postgame 

Great win today by our team!  I was going in with the purpose of playing everyone that hadn’t played and we were able to accomplish that. All 16 of our players got to compete overseas. Excellent offensive execution by our ball club. Got the shots we wanted by the right people all game. Continue to miss a bunch of open ones, but I have confidence in my guys, those will fall as they get more comfortable. Caleb Fields was a maestro.  14 points, 9 assists and ready….ZERO turnovers!  Malcolm, Omar, and Markise continue to be consistent and effective. All scored in double figures. Izaiyah Nelson got the start today and played awesome!  Big blocks and rebounds when needed most. Highlight of the day was Mak Manciel!  Made good plays on offense and was a pest on defense. Had the go ahead 3 in the final minutes and went to him in overtime and he delivered! Do note, some of the statistics are not entirely accurate when you look at blocks, steals and rebounds. 
Now time for these guys to kick back and enjoy the island. Tune in for more tomorrow. 
WOLVESUP!

August 13 | 6:40 PM | Return To Jonesboro

Made it back to America!  What a great trip with awesome people. The team and fans had a blast!  What an experience for our players. The last two days was a lot of relaxing, team bonding and joking around. My highlight yesterday was a player led prayer session with our very own Darius Dunaway. Darius is this programs what I like to call “Life Coach”. He is unreal with our staff and players. Darius is definitely Red Wolves royalty and a huge pet of our family. Guys are off this next week to recover from the long trip. Next thing on the agenda is team meeting on August 22nd to get ready for the start of the Fall semester. Can’t wait until the season starts!