The NBA Experience and the Next Step:

7/30/10

Since my last blog a lot has taken place, mostly a lot of basketball. I’ve been away from home for almost twenty days. It has been a great twenty days, filled with a lot of learning and memories that I’ll never forget. When I went to Los Angeles I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew that it would be a struggle, but I also knew it would be fun.

While participating in mini-camp I learned a lot about myself. I learned not only was I not the big fish in the pond anymore, but if I wanted to make it to the NBA level I’d have to make a lot of adjustments. It was a brutal wake up call every morning waking up and going head to head with one of the Lakers draft picks. Derek Caracter was a star at UTEP after transferring from Louisville before his Junior year. I thought I was a big kid, unitl I played against Derek. He is about my height, but at least 30 pounds heavier. Needless to say it was battle for me everyday just to be able to match his physicality and strength. However, I think this is what I need. I needed to see what it was like to face a possibly legitimate NBA player, everyday.

During mini-camp I started out a little slow, not really sure what role I should take. While at Guilford I demanded the ball, and when I got the ball I typically shot it. Here, I was nervous about out stepping my boundaries as a player. I wanted to show what I could do, but I wanted it to come within the offense. Speaking of the offense, that was one of the biggest learning curves of the trip. The famous triangle, it is one of the most potent offences in all of basketball, but it is also one of the hardest to learn. I was in a crash course, speed session of the triangle offense, using terminology that I had never heard, and I struggled a bit. It really messed with me, because I thought more than I actually played. I was so worried about where I was supposed to be, and got away from playing the game. As mini-camp progressed so did my understanding of the offense, as well as my confidence playing against bigger and stronger players than I have ever played against before. After ten days of camp, it was time to go to Las Vegas as a team, and participate in summer league.

We get to Las Vegas, and checked into one of the nicest hotels that I have ever stayed at. I pretty much had my own apartment looking over the Las Vegas strip, so I didn’t really have any complaints about the accommodations’. We started the week with a game verse Detroit, and I didn’t get to play. This really was a dagger to my confidence, I thought that my scrimmage performance would at least get me on the court for some, even if only a little playing time. I didn’t really know what to think, I was disappointed, but at the same time I was thankful for having the opportunity I did. The next day we had a game against Denver, and I got the call towards the end of the first quarter to go in. At this point I really wasn’t sure what to think, I was really nervous, about like the first time I ever went into a game at Guilford. After I got onto the court, it was all basketball again. This is the game that I saw the most playing time, for the whole week. I played decent, but I definitely could have done better. The rest of the week was kind of a blur with games and practices. I really didn’t get to see that much playing time, but I understood why. I’m probably not a player that the Lakers are wanting to look at for a legitimate chance to be signed, while the rest of the players on my team, who were older and more experienced might have had a better shot. They were all very good players, and I honestly learned a lot from each one. This whole trip, like I said, was a learning experience. I learned what it takes, and what I have to do to be able to play consistently at that level. I definitely have a lot of work to do. I’m just thankful and blessed for this experience. If you had told me two months ago that I would be playing summer league with the LA Lakers, I definitely would have laughed in your face.

Now it’s time for the next step! I recently signed a contract to play with a team in Pamplona, Spain. The team, which is located in the city that is most famous for the annual festival of the running of the bulls, is in a transitional period as they move up from LEB silver to LEB gold, which basically means they are moving from the third to second division. Last year they did well, and finished fourth in their league. I could have taken a couple other offers, which were at higher levels in different countries, but this opportunity for a first year player is really good. Spain is one of the top foreign countries to play in. If I do well, I’ll be able to possibly move up to the top league in Spain. Hopefully I’ll be able to showcase my talents, and improve my game as I move forward with my career. I am blessed to have this opportunity, and I’m anxious to get there and get to work!

Here is a Link to the Teams Website:

http://www.basketnavarraclub.com/

God Bless

The Beginning: 6/30/10

Transitions:

To preface this, I’m really not sure how to write a blog, but here is my best shot!

The past two-month’s has been two of the most interesting, fun, and eye-opening time period in my life. So many things have happened in the past two-month’s that will last in my memory, forever. I have been very blessed to have the support of great friends and family to help me along the way.

To begin with, I GRADUATED COLLEGE. After four years of class, papers, and homework I finished up my bachelors degree, and officially “walked across the stage” on May, 8^th. It was by far the best for years of my life. I walked in as a very naive eighteen year-old child, and I feel as if I walked out as more conversant and intelligent grown man. In my four years, I learned the value of hard work. Hard work in the classroom led to good grades, and hard work on the court led to the gradual growth of me as a basketball player. The day I walked into Milner hall and began my college career at Guilford College, I knew that I had to do one thing if I wanted to be an effective player there, word hard. So, that’s what I did.

I came in as a baby-faced 285 pound little boy, physically speaking. As soon as school started, my coaches, who are like father figures to me, got me started (as well as the rest of the team) on conditioning and lifting routines. I took this as an opportunity to get better, and work hard, which was something that I wasn’t really used to. Right away I began to see the difference, not only in my body, but on the court as well. I lost about 40 pounds in the first two and a half months. This made me feel a lot better, not only physically, but it gave me a mental boost to let me know that I could do it. Basketball wise, well, it was definitely starting to come around. Especially from the summer, where I played summer league with the team in the “Triad Pro-Am.” When my teammates first saw me, I don’t think they were really too thrilled to have me on the team. I couldn’t make a lay-up, jump shot, and still can’t really make a free throw. However, I think that was a turning point in my life. I couldn’t settle with being bad or even mediocre.

Everyday, I worked on my game. I was in the gym either shooting or running every chance I got. The things I was doing really changed the perspective, and my teammate’s perspective of my game on the court. I still couldn’t make a lay-up, but I could run up and down the court, as well as rebound and play defense, and most importantly I was progressing. This was all I really needed to do, because I playing behind the National Player of the Year, Ben Strong. I thank the good Lord for having Ben at Guilford College, everyday. He took it to me every chance he got, with no mercy, and showed me just because I was good at the High School level, did not mean that I could even compete in DIII. Luckily, I was playing against the best player in the country everyday, and I got a lot better because of him, and games did not really seem quite as hard. Towards the end of my freshman year, after a lot of improvement, my roll on the team became a lot more prominent. Ben and I played more together, especially in the NCAA tournament. I single-handedly almost lost us our “Sweet Sixteen” game versus Lincoln with a wide-open missed lay-up, fortunately Jordan Snipes was able to make a buzzer beater, and Ben scored only 59 to help carry us to the victory.

After my freshman year, it kind of dawned on me what I could actually do. I could definitely improve, and maybe become a decent basketball player. Summer league before my sophomore year was drastically different than the year before. I actually competed, and not only did I compete, I did pretty well. So for my sophomore year, I started every game, until I had a hamstring injury. I was out for a month, and that was very difficult on me. I felt all the work I put in, was being wasted. I couldn’t do anything, expect ride the bike for 10 minutes a day. Finally, I recovered and took my spot back as a starter. The year ended kind of dismally. We lost in the first round of the play-offs, with arguably the best team we had at Guilford in my four years. I took it really hard, I remember crying my eyes out after the game, I knew that I not only lost the game, but four of the best friends and teammates I could have ever had. Caleb, Eric, Ray, and Ben were like my four big brothers. They showed me the ropes, looked out for me, and were true friends to me. Plus, the future was unknown, we were losing “the core” we didn’t know what kind of team that we were going to have the next two years.

Well, the next two years turned out decent, I guess you could say. In these two years we went the NCAA tournament both years, and went to the Final Four both years as well. We also won a conference title, and a lot of games, and had great records. My junior year, I transitioned into more a dominant role, and wasn’t really sure of how I should take on this roll. As the year went along, I started to figure things out a little more. By the NCAA tournament I felt like I figured it all out, but that wasn’t reality. However, I performed very well, and we went very deep into the playoffs. I was recognized with all kinds of accolades, which were definitely secondary to the success of the team. I enjoy winning, and hate to lose, and we were winning, a lot! My senior year, it was more of the same. Going 30 and 3 definitely wasn’t our goal when we started, but it most certainly was a nice surprise. We ultimately failed to reach the “ultimate” goal, again. Coach Parke told me, “not only do you have to be really good to win a national championship, but you have to be really lucky as well,” and I figured out the truth to that in the semi-final game against Williams. Those guys shot the lights out, seriously, I think some lights actually lights when out. This was the most devastating loss in my life, it was over, I would never put on a Guilford College uniform again. Coach Palombo and Parke could never yell at me again at practice, Coach Nick couldn’t edit tapes for me to have “constructive criticism” in film, and most importantly I could never play with my “family” again.

As much success as we had my senior year, I was recognized with a lot of different accolades at the end of the year. It was really nice to see my name in the paper, and for me get some of the “spot light,” but without my teammates I would never had ever become close to winning those awards. In April, I got to experience the Final Four in Indianapolis, as apart of being named the National Player of the Year. Basically, I got a free trip, for accepting an award, and making a terrifying speech in front of the who’s who in college basketball. After this nice vacation, it was time to get back to work.

The day after I played in the D-III All-Star game, I got back to work. In the weight room, on the court, and finishing up my requirements to graduate. I was in the gym with one of my mentors for the past four years, Coach Ken Allen. Coach Allen is one of the best men I have every met, plus he can really coach. We worked out close to three days a week, and I played, lifted, and lifted again everyday. I knew what I wanted to do, and that was to play basketball. I didn’t know at what capacity, but I knew that I wasn’t ready to stop lacing up the shoes. I talked to Ben who had played in Israel for the two previous years, and asked what the process was that I needed to follow. It definitely was a complicated process, but the first step was finding an agent. This was a difficult, and I was going in pretty blind to what I needed to do. I fielded a lot of different agencies that wanted to represent me, some foreign, some here, and they all sounded pretty good. However, I didn’t really have a front-runner, until coach Allen reached out to one of his former players, who played at NC State. He suggested an agent out of Raleigh, so I called him. He had heard about me, and watched some highlights of me on YouTube. He was definitely very interested in representing me. So I met with his partner in Greensboro that night, with coach Parke. I felt like this was the best fit for me, but I did not want to make a fast decision. I thought about it for a few days, and knew this would be the best situation for me, because they were local, and I could speak with them daily, or see them whenever I needed to, I felt very comfortable with my decision.

Post Graduation:

I started working out with a personal weight trainer, and definitely noticed a significant difference pretty quickly. One day my agent called, and wanted to take me to Raleigh to workout at NC States facility with some of his guys. I performed pretty well, and he noticed my athleticism and skill. During the workout he was on the phone, and in a week I had a workout in LA with the Lakers. Nervous was an understatement as I journeyed to Los Angeles. However, I was able to perform really well in the workout, and sat down and interviewed with the GM and team officials. I came out of this workout with a sense of achievement, I realized that the Lakers definitely weren’t going to sign me to a multi-million dollar contract, but I did as well as I could, and I felt comfortable with my performance. After this, my agent got me a couple more workouts with other NBA teams, and I realized that “hey, maybe I can’t play in the NBA, but I can compete with these guys.” My outlook on basketball grew exponentially. After the draft, I knew the teams I worked out for would be making their summer league rosters, and I knew that my agent was pushing for a spot for me. Luckily, the Lakers had an open spot, and as I was playing in a French Euro Exposure Camp in Washington DC, I got the call from my agent. I missed two of his calls, but he sent me a text message. The text said “summer league baby, LA!” after reading this I was in disbelief. I called him as soon as I could, and he confirmed that I would be flying out of DC the next day, to LA.

Well that brings me to today; I woke up this morning in an overcast, cold, and not so inviting Los Angeles. I walked to the Lakers practice facility behind my hotel, and went to work for the first time as a basketball player. I do not have words that can accurately describe what is going through my head at this moment. It is the best feeling that anybody could have. I went from a guy that couldn’t make a lay-up, to playing summer league with the Los Angeles Lakers. Somebody once told me ”the harder I work, the luckier I get.” This statement has never meant more to me than right now. For the next two and a half weeks, I’ll be living a dream. I’ll be in LA until next week for mini-camp, and then I’ll be headed Las Vegas where summer league will take place until the 17^th. DREAM COME TRUE

I promise the next blog will not be this long, but I wanted to give a little background on my story since I’ve been at Guilford. I hope you enjoyed…

GOD BLESS!