USC basketball: Trojans finalize August trip to Brazil to play exhibition games against Brazilian pro teams

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The USC men’s basketball team has finalized its 10-day August trip to Brazil to play three exhibition games against Brazilian professional teams.

Here’s the team’s itinerary for the trip:

The team will begin practicing Aug. 1 and will practice for 10 days as allowed by NCAA rules before leaving on Aug. 12.

It will depart that day from Los Angeles, head to Newark, N.J., for a connecting flight that is scheduled to arrive in Sao Paulo on Aug. 13.

The team will practice on the Aug. 14 and 15, and then on Aug. 16 will play Paulistano, a professional team based in Sao Paulo.

On Aug. 17, USC will play Bauru, another team from the country’s top league, Novo Basquete Brasil.

On Aug. 18 the Trojans will travel to Rio de Janeiro in the morning, and on Aug. 19 they will face Flamengo, another team from the NBB.

On Aug. 20, the team will fly from Rio to Houston and then arrive back in L.A. on Aug. 21, one day before classes begin for USC’s fall semester.

The team has some fun planned, such as visiting Sugarloaf Mountain on Aug. 18 and seeing the Christ the Redemer statue the next day.

And as for who’s allowed to go, all the returning players from last season certainly can. The four newcomers -- center James Blasczyk, a Lee College (Texas) transfer; Long Beach Poly guard Alexis Moore; Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda guard Byron Wesley; and guard Greg Allen, a Navarro College (Texas) transfer -- can each go if they pass six units of summer school classes before the trip.

Blasczyk and Allen began attending classes for the summer session that began Tuesday. Moore and Wesley are scheduled to attend classes during the session that starts in late June. USC coaches expect to have all four of the players with them during the trip to Brazil.

One player who isn’t allowed to make the trip is Wake Forest transfer Ari Stewart, who will sit out next season in accordance with NCAA rules.

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-- Baxter Holmes