Dixon and company will take their show north of the border

Levon Kendall, a forward for the Pitt men’s basketball team, is headed back to Canada — and… Levon Kendall, a forward for the Pitt men’s basketball team, is headed back to Canada — and this time, he’s taking the rest of the team.

Kendall, a native of Canada, and the team will depart on Friday to Toronto to compete against three teams.

Head coach Jamie Dixon held his first full practice on Monday, and he said the team was excited for the chance to play in Toronto.

“We’ll get an opportunity to see the younger kids,” Dixon said, speaking of new freshmen recruits Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin.

The Panthers will practice at the Toronto Raptors’ practice facility to prepare themselves for the exhibition games. Pitt is scheduled to play McMaster University, the Orion Club and a team that has yet to be announced.

NCAA rules state that a team is allowed to go on a trip like this once every four years, so long as the trip does not interfere with classes. The Panthers took a similar trip to Puerto Rico before the 1998-99 season.

The team is alotted 10 practice days prior to the trip. And extra practice time is exactly what Dixon is looking for.

Pitt will also travel to Niagara Falls for a dinner and meet with Oakland Athletics manager Ken Macha when they attend the Athletics-Blue Jays baseball game at the Sky Dome in Toronto. Macha is a Pitt graduate from the Pittsburgh area.

Pitt will begin its regular season practice on Oct. 16.

Sports editor Ryan Walker contributed to this story.