Red Wolves - IU East

St. Peter's Basilica was amazing. The food was surprisingly bad. The basketball games were successful.

All in all, Indiana University East men's basketball players Jacobe Edmondson and Tyler Rigby describe their recent trip to Italy as "a great experience."

Edmondson and Rigby spent the first few days of June sharing the stories from their 10-day trip.

The two Red Wolves returned to the United States on May 30.

Edmondson (Indianapolis, Ind./Ancilla College) and Rigby (Bryant, Ind./Jay County High School) played on an American International Sports Tours team that went 4-0 against Italian club-level teams.

Edmondson just finished his senior year in the IU East program. Rigby is preparing for his senior season.

The United States team won its four games by an average of 25 points per game.

Edmondson and Rigby played on a United States team made up mostly of players from the east coast. The squad was coached by Kevin DeVantier of Sullivan County (N.Y.) Community College.

The best stories from the trip didn't come from the basketball floor. Edmondson and Rigby had plenty of time to see the sights during a tour that included stops in Rome, Sienna, Florence, San Marino, Como and Verona.

"It's a place you have to see for yourself to fully appreciate," Edmondson said. "It was a great experience. I would recommend for anyone to do it."

BEST PART OF THE TRIP

Jacobe Edmondson: "St. Peter's Basilica. And also learning about it - why the church was there, how long it took to be built."

Tyler Rigby: "My favorite part was Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. It's just massive. Just ridiculously big.

"My second-favorite thing was seeing the Colosseum and getting to go in and take pictures. They're putting the floor back on in one of the corners, which helps you see what it was like."

WORST PART OF THE TRIP

Jacobe Edmondson: "The food. You hear everyone say it's great, and maybe we had a bad experience or didn't experience all they might fix.

"We literally had pasta before every meal for 10 days. They have their salad with the meal instead of before the meal. And there was a lot of veal."

Tyler Rigby: "Probably the food. It was way too healthy. No grease. Probably some of the healthiest food ever.

"Whenever we went to get pizza we always looked for the greasiest pizza and that's where we'd go."

BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN U.S. AND ITALY

Jacobe Edmondson: "Their driving is outrageous. We actually got into an accident (everyone was okay). You're going to play 'chicken' every time you are on the roads.

"I would say their driving is totally aggressive. When a car stops, motorcycles drive between the cars. They do have stoplights, but only in certain areas.

"Their driving is crazy."

Tyler Rigby: "Driving and the roads. It was crazy. There are no rules. Just get out there and go. And the cars are so little. They all drive smart cars."

BIGGEST SIMILARITY BETWEEN U.S. AND ITALY

Jacobe Edmondson: "I didn't really didn't see anything that was alike. Even their McDonald's is different. They don't serve breakfast and they only had six things on the menu.

"Even their orange juice was different. Theirs is a grapefruit-type color. It was good, but it's not orange juice."

Tyler Rigby: "I would say the clothes. There is a lot of different stuff but the way people dress is similar."

RECAP OF THE BASKETBALL GAMES

Jacobe Edmondson: "We went 4-0 and we had fun on and off the court. I feel like we had known each other for years. We all got along and joked and laughed, and the coaches were great.

"The competition was different. I wouldn't say it was bad or good or that their style was better than our style. It was just different.

"I hit a 3-pointer in the second game. (Edmondson attempted zero 3-pointers during his IU East career). The coach told me later if I had missed it, I was coming out!"

Tyler Rigby: "We had a really good team and that always helps. The competition could have been better but it wasn't terrible.

"It's a lot faster-paced , if you can believe it. They don't take time to take the ball out. They grab it and it's off before you turn around.

"Seeing a different style of game, the European game, and how they play over there gave me some new ideas, some things to put in my game."