Mark Cuban donates $30,000 to University of Dallas basketball team to help fund trip to London after travel company cancels
By Briauna Brown
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DALLAS, Texas (KTVT) — A Dallas basketball team is close to making its dreams of traveling to London come true after a sizeable donation from Mark Cuban.
Cuban donated $30,000 toward the University of Dallas men’s basketball fundraising goal after the team’s trip was abruptly canceled by a travel company that went bankrupt. Their $60,000 deposit for the trip has yet to be refunded.
Last month, CBS News Texas spoke with UTD head basketball coach Matt Grahn, who said the London trip was two years in the making, with help from family and friends.
Grahn said they worked with the company GoPlay Sports. Two months before their travel date, the company notified Grahn via email that it was taking steps to file for bankruptcy and could no longer fulfill the team’s booking.
The trip was also especially significant for senior basketball player Michael Kennedy, who is from London and was excited to show his teammates where he grew up, visit there, and play in front of his parents.
“I was going to show them, like, where I live. I was 100% confident this trip was going to happen; nothing could have gone wrong, but it did. I just, it feels like betrayal a little bit, you know, two years of working with them, but for what?” Kennedy told CBS News Texas.
Federal bankruptcy court records do not show any filings from GoPlay Sports. CBS News Texas has also reached out to the company, but we have not yet heard back.
Following the cancellation, the team took to social media to see if it could raise enough funds to still go to London. Then came Cuban’s large donation.
The team took to social media on Wednesday to thank Cuban and shared that they are still about $17,000 away from fully recovering the amount they lost. Anyone who would like to donate can visit the team’s social media page and click on the link in their bio.
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