Mark Cuban Helps College Basketball Team After They Lost $60,000 Due to Travel Company's Alleged Bankruptcy
· Yahoo Sports
Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty; University of Dallas Men's Basketball Team/TikTok
NEED TO KNOW
- A college basketball team is giving thanks to Mark Cuban
- The former Dallas Mavericks owner donated $30,000 to the University of Dallas men's basketball team after their trip to Europe looked to be in doubt
- Now, the team hopes to raise the remaining money it needs in time for the trip in August
A college basketball team in Dallas that lost $60,000 it had raised for a dream trip to Europe is one step closer to going thanks to a donation from Mark Cuban.
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After saving for nearly two years to play a series of games in London, the University of Dallas men’s basketball team’s trip looked to be in doubt after the company it had hired to coordinate the trip said it was filing for bankruptcy, according to The Dallas Morning News, CBS affiliate KTVT-TV and DFW affiliate NBC 5.
However, the company has no record of filing for bankruptcy, CBS reported and PEOPLE has verified.
The Division III team’s head coach Matt Grahn told the outlets that the university had made two separate payments of $30,000 to Boston-based GoPlay Sports to organize the two-game trip in the United Kingdom — and then the company abruptly announced it was shutting down.
“We raised over $65,000,” Grahn said. “We did anything and everything. We ran camps. All of our camps were fundraisers. We sold concessions at soccer games in the fall. We worked as ushers and security at AT&T Stadium for Cowboys games.”
University of Dallas men's basketball teamCredit: University of Dallas Men's Basketball Team/TikTok
The trip was set to honor senior forward Michael Kennedy, who grew up outside of London.
The program tries to take a player not from a city within their conference home for a series of games, as an acknowledgement of their being on the team for three years, per the Morning News.
After sharing their story online in a series of posts on TikTok, the athletes got the attention of the former Dallas Mavericks principal owner who then donated $30,000 to help make their trip a reality.
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“We’re incredibly grateful, Mark,” the team said in a joint TikTok on Wednesday, May 6. “Our team is one step closer to recovering what we lost.”
According to The Street, GoPlay cited the “ongoing situation in the Middle East” as the reason it would not accept future bookings as well why it was canceling existing tours.
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office told NBC 5 it has received at least 25 consumer complaints about GoPlay this year.
After learning that the company was holding onto its $60,000, the team raised $13,000 last month, and they are nearing their goal, with a new plan to go on the trip in August
“It took everything I had not to just bawl openly on the phone,” Grahn said after he heard about Cuban’s donation. “It’s incredible, $17,000 definitely looks better than $47,000.”
PEOPLE has attempted to contact GoPlay, but their phone has been disconnected.
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