Ty Johnson suffered a foot injury last summer that held him out of the Wildcats' tour of France and the Netherlands, but he will make up for the missed experience this week. He traveled today from France to Belgium along with Villanova teammate Achraf Yacoubou and a contingent of Division I college basketball players to compete against European teams and see the sights and culture abroad.

According to Villanova, the tour will cover both Belgium and France and runs from today until August 10th. It is operated by the Global Sports Academy, a non-profit organization operated out of West Chester, Pennsylvania.

GSA arranges athletic competition "among equally matched teams at all levels" internationally and has been in operation since 1991. According to their website:

The primary goal of GSA is to promote international goodwill and an enhanced understanding between nations through sports. GSA enables athletes and coaches to experience the thrill of international sports competition, attend cultural events, and view the historic sites of the world. Over the years, GSA has offered trips to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France, England, and the Czech Republic, and aims to continue to add new destinations, such as Australia in 2012.

Now that summer leagues and summer practices have come to a close until the preseason period begins again, this is an excellent opportunity for the two sophomore guards to see additional live-game action that they may have missed out on. Villanova will need Johnson in particular (since he is expected to play a much bigger role) to step his game up and be ready for the 2012-13 season if they are going to bounce back from last season's disappointment, so it seems wise for him to be on this trip.