Mayweather goes coastal to play professional ball

After graduating from GCSU, forward Jeremy Mayweather might have felt he needed a change in attitude and in latitude when he signed with Kauhajoki (Trans: Spoon River Bears) of Finland’s 1st Division Basketball League.
After a tremendous senior season, helping the Bobcats to the Division II Sweet Sixteen, Mayweather was named Player of the Year for the Peach Belt Conference, he was an honorable mention for All-American and he was selected to play on the NABC Division II All-Star Team.
According to Head GCSU Basketball Coach Terry Sellers, none of his honors went unnoticed, “The All-Star game got him some good exposure, his name started to circulate… we sent out a lot of tape overseas and in Europe and this was a team that liked what they saw and things worked out for him,” said Sellers. 
Mayweather left on Wednesday, Aug. 23, bound for Finland.
“It’s nice, one, because it’s a chance for him to play professional basketball somewhere, and, at the very least, it lets a few other people around the world know who we are,” said GCSU Sports Information Director Brad Muller about the implications of Mayweather playing overseas.
 Aside from the language barrier Mayweather will have to adjust to a new culture, a new climate and a new time zone to become successful.
 “I think the biggest problem for him adjusting will be being homesick and playing a lot more games. In college basketball you play 27 regular season games then the postseason, when you get to the professional level, most likely you’re playing every other night, as many as 80 games in a season,” said Muller. “It’s a lot more wear and tear on the body.”
 “It’s cool and it’s encouraging because Jeremy gets to have that experience… me and some of the other guys coming up, we get to kinda learn from his experiences and talk to him… because playing over seas is something that a lot of us would like to do,” said junior center Aaron Clark.
 Coach Sellers talked to Mayweather recently, “He said every thing is going great… the food was good, he was enjoying it, and he had already played in one game with 23 baskets, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks,” Sellers said.
Mayweather’s team, Kauhajoki, is currently 19-7 and in 3rd place in the 1st Division standings.
 Mayweather is the first basketball player from GCSU to play professionally in Finland, but he is not the first to play overseas.  Julius Joseph (‘00) currently plays in the British Basketball League for the Scottish Rocks where he led the team in scoring last year.  GCSU also has alumni playing in Ireland and Israel.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 8 2006. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry