By BARRY SANKEY

bsankey@PhoenixvilleNews.com

PHOENIXVILLE — Both in terms of cultural exchange as far as academics as well as basketball, a proposed trip to Europe in the summer of 2009 represents the chance of a lifetime for Phoenixville graduates Jon Crabtree and Jon Hogga.

Crabtree and Hogga are now members of the Gwynedd-Mercy College men's basketball team, which is coached by Limerick resident John Baron.

Crabtree and Hogga plus two more Gwynedd-Mercy teammates are part of a contingent planning on taking a trip to Italy and Austria from May 31-June 9, 2009. The Italian and Austrian basketball partnership selected USA Athletes International as the sponsoring non-profit organization for the journey to represent the United States abroad.

To make the trip, each student-athlete must raise at least $4,000. That cost covers airfare, hotel accommodations and travel to and from the games. The players will wear regular uniforms from the USAAI. The players will be seeking donations from community groups, family members and friends in order to raise the necessary funds for the travel abroad.

The team will be coached by Cabrini College's Marcus Kahn, and Baron is also embarking on the journey. The two other Gwynedd-Mercy cagers are Dave Smith and Matt Johnson. Ten players were chosen to be on the hoops squad.

"It is a collection of area guys from the region," said Crabtree, a guard. "There are two other teams going. One is a girls basketball team and the other is a volleyball team. In all, there are 20 girls and 10 guys going."

The trip is officially known as the European Slam Tour. The players will explore Florence, Venice, Klagenfurt and Vienna.

The players will have five official games on the trip along with one practice. The remainder of the time will be spent touring sites and learning about other countries.

USA Athletes International was established in 1991 and is considered the best worldwide opportunity of its kind other than the regular Olympic Games every four years. William A. Edington is the executive director.

Crabtree and Hogga, a frontcourt player, were both first team All-Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10) selections on Phoenixville's undefeated league championship team back in 2006-07. That ballclub finished third in the District 1 Class AAA playoffs and advanced to the second round of the PIAA state tournament before being eliminated by Greencastle-Antrim from the Chambersburg area in Enola, near Harrisburg. The team was coached by current mentor Bill Detweiler, who is in his seventh season of directing the Phantom boys' basketball program.

The local products will be seeking donations at Phoenixville Area High School boys basketball games for the rest of this winter. There will be a jar provided at the ticket table as well as 50-50 raffle tickets to benefit the project.

"That way we will be able to gauge how far it gets us," Crabtree said. "Then we can use small ways to get the rest of the money."

Crabtree and Hogga plan to keep a daily diary of the trip with photographs and accounts as a keepsake of the unique trip. All players on the trip will be of college age.

"I have never been to Europe," Crabtree said. "I talked to coach Baron about it and he thought it would be a great experience for us. Besides basketball, we get the chance to see everything."

In European basketball, the 3-point field goal line is shorter and the lane is a slanted trapezoid as opposed to the rectangle in the United States.

Scouts will view the games in order to help tap future talent to continue playing basketball overseas.

"It is an amateur showcase," Crabtree said. "Hogga wants to play overseas when he gets out of college so it is an infinitely great opportunity for him. He will get his name out there and people will have heard of him. As for me, I am not sure what I am going to do yet. I want to see how it goes the next couple years."

Some players spend time in Europe, where professional contracts include a car, housing and food.

"That gives you a bank account so it is a good way to start off life over here," Crabtree said. "It is definitely a tremendous opportunity."

Gwynedd-Mercy's men cagers took a California trip at the start of the 2008-09 campaign and the players had to raise money for that venture, too. But, as Crabtree said, it was nothing to the extent of this trip to Europe.

"This is a really good cause and we hope to get more awareness," Crabtree said. "We can get a lot of support. Anyone can chip in a small contribution. It really adds up."

While the successful basketball tradition at Phoenixville continues, Crabtree said current Phantom players may also elect to play ball in college and seek to travel in future years.

"It is a prideful tradition in Phoenixville basketball," Crabtree said. "Some guys playing there now will graduate soon and play college basketball. Jon (Hogga) and myself enjoyed ourselves there and want to keep it going for the younger guys.

"The community is just as important as the coaches and players in keeping it going."

Crabtree's mother, Sandy Crabtree, and the two players are accepting donations. They can be contacted by e-mail. Sandy's e-mail address is Scraber1@comcast.net. Jon Crabtree can be contacted Crabtree.j@gmc.edu. Jon Hogga can be reached at Hogga.j@gmc.edu.