Rich Semrau has never been abroad, so this summer’s trip to Germany will be about more than basketball for the redshirt-freshman.

Semrau and junior Trent Meacham will represent Illinois on an eight-day trip to Europe with Athletes in Action, a Christian sports organization. They will join eight other Division-I basketball players on the tour, which begins August 13.

“I’m just really fortunate to have this experience,” Semrau said Tuesday between pickup games at the Ubben Basketball Practice Facility. “I talked to Coach Weber about going overseas this summer, and he said Trent was going on this trip. So I figured I might as well go with him, since he’s my teammate.”

Meacham traveled to France with Athletes in Action last summer, and said the experience helped him shake some of the rustiness that built up from redshirting the 2005-06 season. He said Semrau, who hasn’t played an organized game since Illinois defeated Savannah State on Nov. 21, will benefit from the same warm-up before heading back to Champaign for fall workouts.

The 10-athlete team will play six games against professional basketball teams in Germany. Other players making the trip are Baylor’s Tweety Carter, Colorado State’s Stuart Creason, Purdue’s Chris Kramer, Liberty’s Alex McLean and Anthony Smith, Brandon McPherson from Valparaiso, Mitch Platt from Oregon and Dwight Thorne II from Colorado.

Athletes in Action is sponsoring 11 international touring basketball teams this summer. The organization is active in 75 countries, on 125 U.S. college campuses and with 35 U.S. professional sports teams. Meacham said the program combines basketball and faith-based activities.

“It was an unbelievable experience the first time,” Meacham said.

Meacham said last year’s team traveled throughout France, while this year the group will primarily stay in Berlin.

“We think we have a home-court advantage here, they have a home-country advantage,” Meacham said.

Pruitt takes on LeBron James

Illinois big man Shaun Pruitt spent last week at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio, and reportedly held his own against the NBA superstar.

The camp hosted some of the top high school prospects in the country, but Pruitt and a handful of elite college basketball players were on hand to teach the kids and play pickup with that other King James.

Freshmen make progress

It may just be summer, and they may just be playing pickup, but Illinois’ six freshmen are beginning to look like college athletes. During Tuesday workouts Demetri McCamey ran the court well, Mike Tisdale made hook shots from both the left and right and Jeff Jordan looked a little like his dad, driving through the lane and dunking several times.

“They’re getting used to lifting, taking classes, just being in college,” Meacham said.