How do you go overseas to play basketball

How to Play Basketball Overseas - Step by Step Guide

The goal of any athlete is to make a living playing the sport they love. In basketball, if you don’t make it to the NBA or the NBA G League, there are hundreds of other leagues around the world where you can live out your dreams of making good money playing basketball. This step-by-step guide will break down the steps on how to play basketball overseas.

Table of Contents

Step 1:

How to play basketball overseas for Americans image by EuroProBasket

You need experience playing at the highest level to get the most interest from teams overseas. So your goal should be to make it to the top level wherever you are currently living and playing.

American Players

Ncaa D1 – Teams overseas know that there is a ranking system in the USA that has Ncaa D1 at the top followed by Ncaa D2 and Ncaa D3. NAIA is still not completely clear to a lot of teams overseas but can still provide good experience.

Canadian USPORTS is becoming more known to teams across the pond. The Canadian NBL is a great option for quality experience.

Juco and high school experience is usually not enough to get serious interest from teams overseas. That is if you are not ranked in the nation such as LaMelo Ball or Brandon Jennings. Go for a 4 year University program at the highest level possible.

AAU and shoe sponsored club teams will help you get exposure to Universities but will rarely get you enough exposure to get overseas.

If your time has passed with University eligibility or it’s just not for you, the best option is getting on a semi-pro team. Make sure you read the last section of the article if you fall under this category.

International Players

Club Teams – For International players, this is the only way to play basketball competitively. Work to get on the best club team in your city or town.

Junior National Team – Your goal should be to play for your country’s national team. The senior team would be the ultimate goal but junior teams will get you exposure.

Get stats – How to play basketball overseas image via EuroProBasket

If you go Ncaa D1 and don’t get any minutes, struggle to get stats, then you will also struggle to get interest from teams overseas.

Go D2 and be an All-American. That will get you great playing experience, and quality stats, which could lead to a professional contract.

NCAA, NAIA, USPORTS, international club teams and leagues; got those numbers up while adding value to your team.

Make sure you know where to locate your stats. Keep track of them and add them to your resume at the end of every season.

Game film is your way to show your talent, athleticism and decision making skills to teams around the world. Video is the 2nd step in your search of how to play basketball overseas.

One Highlight Per Season – Sum up every season you play with a highlight. Teams, coaches, agents…like to get a quick glimpse of how you move and shoot. This will peak their interest and get them to consider watching some of your full games.

Two Full Games per Season – This is pretty self explanatory but you need two full games per season played. this is a minimum. Some teams may ask for more. Make sure they are the best games you have played, both on offense and defense.

You should be in control of your own film. Make a YouTube channel, vimeo or sign up for another streaming service. Membership is free and you can upload as many videos as you want.

Acceptable Video – YOU Need to Read This

The quality of the competition is absolutely critical to getting a team overseas to watch your video. Low level and disorganized competition will not gain any attention from clubs overseas.

Open gyms, open runs, YMCA, Juco or high school is not high enough quality to get the interest from contacts overseas. You need to get the highest competition possible. Playing against adults in an organized competitive environment.

NCAA, NAIA, USPORTS are the best options for players from America. International players can use their country’s local competitions. The higher the level of competition the better.

Semi-Pro Leagues in the USA can be good options as well. Not all teams overseas will consider it but many will. It is important your team is organized and the competition is high level. Good effort on defense. Running organized sets and plays on offense.

Overseas Basketball Combine , exposure camps, and showcases in the USA will not get you a team’s interest. Take our word for it, or read this article for reasons why teams do not consider it a viable option to scout players.

More information on why USA overseas basketball combine film will not help you get overseas below.

Overseas Tour game film can work well due to the fact that you are usually playing overseas teams. Be selective on which tour you go on. If you take a tour to Latin America, don’t expect to use the film to help you get on a team in Europe.

Workout videos or clips of yourself working out will rarely get you anywhere. If you have some solid game film and you have had a few months off, it is possible that a team will want to see some workout film to make sure you are in shape. This is usually not the case though.

Mixtapes and slow-mo video clips are cool but not beneficial for coaches and scouts. It will get you some props from your friends and IG followers but will do nothing to get you signed.

EuroProBasket game film – Players in the EuroProBasket program play weekly games against European teams. The leagues that EuroProBasket team plays teams in are recognized around Spain and the rest of Europe. If you are asking yourself How to Play Basketball Overseas, we have your answer here in Valencia, Spain: Register to be part of EuroProBasket’s Professional Placement Program here.

Bosman A, Bosman B, Cotonou passports image via EuroProBasket

You cannot leave your country without a passport, with a few exceptions, which are not worth mentioning for this article.

You will need that passport to travel and on many occasions to register for an international team or league. Take care of that before you start your plans to go abroad.

Dual Citizenship and its Benefits in Overseas Basketball

You may have heard of players being dual citizens or having dual passports. This is one of the first things we recommend our players at EuroProBasket to look into.

If your parents were born in another country or have their citizenship in another country, you are eligible to receive yours as well.

You could possibly be eligible for another citizenship if your grandparents were born in another country. Do some research on your family’s historical background as it will greatly benefit you.

If you have a European passport for example, you will be considered a European player instead of an import player. No visa is required to register you to a team and there are 3-5 times as many roster spots available for European Bosman A passport holders than there are for import players, or USA passport holders. 

If you have citizenship in a specific country, it doesn’t matter the country, and there is a professional basketball league in that country, you will most likely be considered a local player. This has many benefits and will prolong your professional playing and even coaching career indefinitely.

Bosman A – Bosman B – Cotonou – The Differences

These passports are for citizens of the European Union. There are 27 countries in the EU with a few exceptions that are added to the list of Bosman A players. This is arguably the most beneficial passport to have in overseas basketball. You can find some interesting information about the bosman ruling and how it changed European and Ncaa basketball here.

These passports are countries in Europe but excluded from the European Union. Most European leagues have roster spots reserved for players with these passports. Registration to the league is typically less expensive than an import players registration. Players will need a visa to play and work in the country in which the team is located.

Cotonou

These passports are from developing countries, or third world countries in Africa and many Island Nations. Many leagues in Europe (Spain, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland,ect…) have roster spots specifically for these passport holders. Their registration fee to the league is cheaper for the team. They too need a visa to work and play in the country where the team is located. More about the cotonou agreement here.

Bosman A, Bosman B and Cotonou Countries Table

Bosman A	Bosman B	Cotonou	Cotonou cont…
Andorra (AND)	Albania (ALB)	Angola (ANG)	Liberia (LIB)
Austria (AUT)	Armenia (ARM)	Anguilla (ANL)	Macau (MAC)
Belgium (BEL)	Azerbaijan (AZE)	Antigua (ANT)	Madagascar (MAD)
Bulgaria (BUL)	Belarus (BLR)	Aruba (ARU)	Mali (MLI)
Croatia (CRO)	Bosnia-Herzegovina (BIH)	Bahamas (BAH)	Marshall Islands (MAI)
Cyprus (CYP)	Georgia (GEO)	Barbados (BAR)	Mauritania (MTN)
Czech Rep. (CZE)	Gibraltar (GIB)	Belize (BIZ)	Mauritius Island (MAU)
Denmark (DEN)	Israel (ISR)	Botswana (BOT)	Micronesia (MCR)
Estonia (EST)	Moldova (MDA)	Burkina Faso (BUR)	Mozambique (MOZ)
Finland (FIN)	Montenegro (MNT)	Burundi (BDI)	Namibia (NAM)
France (FRA)	North Macedonia (MKD)	Cameroon (CMR)	Nauru (NRU)
Germany (GER)	Russia (RUS)	Cape Verde (CPV)	Nigeria (NGR)
Greece (GRE)	San Marino (SMR)	Central Africa (CAF)	Palau (PLW)
Holland (NED)	Scotland (SCO)	Chad (CHA)	Papua New Guinea (PNG)
Hungary (HUN)	Serbia (SRB)	Cook Islands (COK)	Rwanda (RWA)
Iceland (ISL)	Switzerland (SUI)	Cuba (CUB)	Saint Kitts (SKN)
Ireland (IRL)	Turkey (TUR)	Dominica (DMA)	Saint Lucia (SLA)
Italy (ITA)	Ukraine (UKR)	Dominican Rep. (DOM)	St. Vincent & Grenadines (VIN)
Kosovo (KOS)	United Kingdom (ENG)	Eritrea (ERI)	Samoa (SAM)
Latvia (LAT)	Wales (WAL)	Ethiopia (ETH)	Senegal (SEN)
Lithuania (LTU)		Fiji (FIJ)	Seychelles (SEY)
Luxembourg (LUX)		Gabon (GAB)	Sierra Leone (SLE)
Malta (MLT)		Gambia (GAM)	Solomon Islands (SOL)
Norway (NOR)		Ghana (GHA)	South Africa (RSA)
Poland (POL)		Grenada (GRN)	Sudan (SUD)
Portugal (POR)		Guam (GUM)	Suriname (SUR)
Romania (ROM)		Guinea (GUI)	Tanzania (TAN)
Slovak Rep. (SVK)		Guinea Bissau (GBS)	Tonga (TGA)
Slovenia (SLO)		Guyana (GUY)	Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)
Spain (ESP)		Haiti (HAI)	Turks and Caicos (TKS)
Sweden (SWE)		Ivory Coast (IVO)	Uganda (UGA)
		Jamaica (JAM)	Vanuatu (VAN)
		Kenya (KEN)	Zambia (ZAM)
		Lesotho (LES)	Zimbabwe (ZIM)

Bosman A, Bosman B, Cotonou Countries List chart by EuroProBasket

Player Resume – How to play basketball overseas image via EuroProBasket

• Include Personal Information, picture playing or in a professional outfit
• Include stats for every season, as detailed as possible as to not have team searching (remember teams and agents go through hundreds every week)
• Add Highlight links and full game links so they are clickable
• Add whatever accolades and achievements
• Add references if you like
• Save it in a pdf and have it on file so you can update it
• Make it organized and professional looking
• It only needs to be one or two pages
• Leave out the self explanation, self scouting and NBA player comparison
• Remember, less text is better, English is the 2nd, 3rd or 4th language of the person looking over your bio
• Have it ready to send on your phone
• We made an article specifically on how to make a basketball resume which can be found below.

• Use current contacts with coaches, trainers and teammates
• Create and use social media accounts, most contacts abroad have facebook, linkedin and twitter. Some have instagram accounts.
• Create your own website with all of your stats and video links if you can.

A basketball agent will have the contacts to help you get your career started overseas. There is a lot you need to know about overseas agents though. We covered every detail in the article below.

Step 8: Best Opportunities to Play Overseas Basketball

Best opportunities to play overseas basketball image via EuroProBasket

You’ve attempted Steps 1 through 7 of how to play basketball overseas. You still don’t have a team. Here are your options.

If you want to play in Japan, go to Japan and present yourself to teams. It is a big risk and very expensive but If you can walk in a gym and tryout for a team it makes your chances much higher that the team will give you an opportunity to sign with them.

There are obvious downsides to this option. Many teams only allow a certain amount of import players. Higher level teams have specific needs and there is a chance that you are not that exact fit for the team.

Showcases in the USA are hit or miss. More miss than hit. Too many players, un-organized open run type of basketball. Most teams cannot afford to send a coach or GM to the US to scout a group of players. It is much easier and less expensive for them to contact an agent for players with professional experience.

Live streams mean a busy person needs to take time out to watch, taken into account the time difference. Don’t fall for the gimmick many camps and combines in the USA try to sell to players.

Agent showcases can be a good option. Usually only the top one or two players will be interesting for the agency.

Basketball Academies & Overseas Tours

These options take more of an investment but what is a career in basketball worth to you? Put yourself in the middle of a country or region that you are interested in living and playing basketball.

Downsides to a tour is that it can be difficult to get a good rhythm and perform in just a week or 10 days. You don’t have much time to practice and get accustomed to your tour team. You will be moving from one location to nother with many hours of travel. Tours are really difficult to time as teams sign players at different times of the year, so when is the best week for the tour? Your guess is as good as theirs…

Some are organized and done by professionals, most are disorganized and can be very uncomfortable and in some cases scary.

A basketball academy is your best all around option. If you want the most legit shot at going pro then why not select the best basketball academy, with the longest history of helping players sign with teams in Europe? Located in the largest basketball facilities in Europe in collaboration with one of the biggest clubs in Europe. EuroProBasket will help you get to the next level.

The best and most secure opportunity to start your professional basketball career overseas is with EuroProBasket International Academy. Here are 21 reasons why.

Sign up for the most successful professional placement program here:

Essentials to Play Basketball Overseas

Essentials to play basketball overseas image via EuroProBasket

For many players these essentials to play basketball overseas will just be reminders. but still crucial to your success playing basketball overseas.

Complete Your Collegiate Playing Career

• No one is going to deny that for an American player the most important and useful experience you can have is from a University basketball program.
• There is no better place to get high level coaching and competition then in the American University system.
• You cannot substitute the 4 years of basketball knowledge, coaching, experience, physical growth and mental maturity that a collegiate basketball career will give you.
• That’s not to mention the actual degree that you can receive, paid for have you, from the University you attend.
• Stay in school if you want a better chance at playing professional basketball.

• The worst thing that can happen is that you get a tryout and are not in game shape
• You should be lifting weights, conditioning (running, sprints, hills, stairs, bike, plyometrics) skill work, playing 1v1 and 5v5.
• Get with other overseas professional players and workout with them.
• If you are not sure how to prepare, hire a professional basketball trainer that can help prepare a plan for you.

Be Active Networking and Making Contacts

• Everyday is a new opportunity to meet someone that can help you in your pursuit to play basketball overseas.
• Use your current contacts with coaches, teammates and trainers to reach new contacts.
• When you meet people involved in basketball, exchange contact information with them. Reach out to them and develop a relationship.
• Use social media to make new contacts around the world.

These are the suggestions on how to play basketball overseas by International Scout and CEO of EuroProbasket International Academy in Spain, Brad Kanis.

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Russian guy gets advice from LeBron and plays on the same team with Bronnie.

Editor's Note: You are reading the user blog "Interception", where you talk to interesting people from the world of Russian basketball. Do not forget about the pros, they make the world a better place.

There is a prestigious Sierra Canyon school near Los Angeles. Her academic program is very strong, which is why the children of celebrities such as Alec Baldwin, Will Smith and others study in it. Famous basketball players also send their children to this school, and LeBron James went further - he took patronage over the school basketball team. Both of his sons play there, along with Scotty Pippen's son and several other five-star players.

We are interested in this school because the Russian basketball player Timofey Rudovsky is studying there. The pupil of the CSKA sports school went there in transit through the Spanish Estudiantes and now plays with Bronnie James in the same team.

I talked to Timofey himself and his father Dmitry Rudovsky. Dmitry Olegovich is a famous Russian producer who worked with Fyodor Bondarchuk on the film "9th Company". Among his films are ZHARA, Duhless, Stalingrad. But he is not just Timofey's father, but, if I may say so, his manager.

I packed the whole story into a 43-minute video. I would be grateful for your thumbs up and comments - they help promote videos on YouTube.

If you like reading more than watching, then below is the text.

How Rudovsky got into basketball

Timofey started playing basketball at the age of 6, it was the most ordinary school section. So common that Rudovsky's crowning exercise there was the "spider". By that time, he already had all kinds of uniforms at home, balls, he really burned with basketball. But the section at the school is the section at the school, so it was difficult to demand something special.

Therefore, soon Timofey found himself in the school near Moscow "Panther" - the same one that Pavel Savkov and Nestor Dyachok went through.

Timofey Rudovsky: “I started before Panther, it was a small section. My dad sent me there so that I could start somewhere. Maybe he loves basketball. We had a small action at school - who wants to, come, teach, work out. There I began to play slowly, and so it came to the "Panther". I trained at this school for two years and then went to the training camp in Vatutinki, in CSKA. And it so happened that the coach liked me and he called me to the team.

The history of Timofey's transfer to CSKA was not without chance. The plans were to continue playing basketball in Khimki, because it was close to home, but one day Dmitry Rudovsky played basketball with the coach of the "army" sports school Ivan Kucherov, who was just recruiting children born in 2004.

Dmitry Rudovsky: “We ran in the CSKA playing hall, and there the referees, coaches, in particular, the coaches of the CSKA sports school, played with us. They were just recruiting boys in 2004. Denis Rami says: "You have a son of 2004." I say: "Yes, there is." And he: “Can you give it to the training camp in the summer? Let's look at him." He was not yet 8 years old, he went to the training camp and after that they offered him to study. We will consider that this is such a starting point, more or less meaningful and organized basketball.

He played at the CSKA sports school for 6 years, during which time they won both Moscow, and the Russian championship twice, and the Baltic Children's League, this is a regional competition where Finns, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, we participate. The European Youth Basketball League, EYBL, in which more than 30 European countries now play, was also won. We won once, lost once in the final to Zalgiris by 2 points, took second place.”

From CSKA to Spain

After six and a half years that Rudovsky spent in the CSKA system, his dad had an understanding that some heights in basketball had already been achieved here in Russia, and it was necessary to move on. Tim also wanted to keep practicing and progressing. CSKA did not particularly believe in him, because he was skinny and weak, besides, many believed that Rudovsky was getting time at the expense of his enterprising dad.

But at the same time, he began to be involved in the training camp of the national U16 team - the national team began a two-year preparatory cycle for the European Championship. Spaniards, Serbs and some other countries have been doing this for a long time, starting to prepare much in advance, but for the Russian “youth team” it was a new experience. The team played several tournaments, tested the line-up, worked out the backbone, and Timofey gained a foothold and found his place in the team. The European Championship did not take place due to the pandemic, but the call to the national team is a serious intermediate result.

Dmitry Rudovsky: “There was an understanding that we need to move on, I consulted with Lesha Savkov, we have friendly relations, and with Volodya Dyachok. Everyone chose their own path for their guys, Volodya chose for Nestor to study and play in the USA, and Lesha said: “Our guys are so dead, late, they have skills and understanding of the game, skills too, but physically they are not ready to stomp with black guys for a place . Therefore, Europe is the best option.” Pasha left first, we actually went after him. By coincidence, it turned out that we were helped by the same agents who arranged for Pasha in Baskonia. Just a little different way: we went to Spain to train in the summer, attended a Spanish summer camp for several years, adopted the culture of advanced European basketball, this is speed, fast transit, activity in attack, in early attack. It was all useful to study, we saw many advantages in this. One such summer camp had an agent who represented the agency that recruited Savkov. We met, they say: "Well, let's take your boyfriend, we'll see."

Timofey Rudovsky: “My family and I went for several years in a row to have a rest in the summer on the island, in Mallorca, where we held and, I think, there is still a camp called Summer Liga. […] There we met the founder of the camp, and he introduced us to the agents. I don’t remember the name of the company (You First Sports - approx. “Interception”), but they offered us two teams - Joventut and Estudiantes.

The Rudovskys first went to Badalona, ​​to "Joventut". Everything was very good there: excellent organization, good attitude, everything was like in a family. And, importantly, continuity: the sports director of the club was once the president of the school himself, the current president is a graduate of the club academy himself, who simply decided not to continue his career, but to stay at Hoventut.

Dmitry Rudovsky says that during his stay in Badalona, ​​it was felt that the attitude, approach, methods - everything was at the highest level. But there was a “but”: Timofey was then 191 cm tall, and the director of the Hoventut school considered that they already had their own players. The Spaniards take only those whom they lack, and at this moment they lacked a center. It turned out to be Kirill Popov - now he plays in CSKA, and then he went to see it with Rudovsky.

Or rather, it was Rudovsky who traveled with Popov. Kirill could close the position in the three-second zone both by his age and by his senior, so Hoventut took him. There was only one place left in the school, and there was none for Rudovsky.

Dmitry Rudovsky: “But the agents who brought him to the screening and organized all this were at training and looked at Timofey more closely. Before that, they didn’t pay much attention to him, it was such a push, this trip to Badalona with Kirill. But they said that he has a good throw, he has skills, he is intelligent, and they can find him a school in Spain. And the next immediately was an invitation to Estudiantes.

We were there for two days, he was immediately offered. The picture was beautiful, the arena itself is located not far from the Santiago Bernabeu, in the central area of ​​​​Madrid, a beautiful area, they didn’t take us to the residence, but they showed it from afar, it looked like a small castle, a mansion, with its courtyards, an English school nearby. It was very reminiscent of Badalona, ​​only without the sea. It seemed that this was the best option, so, of course, they accepted the offer with pleasure. In the summer, we intensively prepared for a month, arrived there and became part of this team.

The poverty of Estudiantes

It was 2019, and even then Estudiantes was a loan club. There was talk in the press about his impending bankruptcy. The "students" - that's what this team is called, if its name is simply translated - had 18 million euros of debt, and this is a cosmic amount for a club of this caliber.

On the one hand, this is a plus for players like Timofey Rudovsky. This means that Estudiantes will rely on its sports school and should be very much interested in bringing young guys to the right level, giving them a chance in the first team and selling them to more successful organizations. But, on the other hand, this same poverty created problems in everyday life and provoked a lack of training.

Timofey Rudovsky: “When I arrived, they had problems with money, and it turned out that they couldn't even provide us with a gym every day for additional training. Although I’m not talking about additional training, we even trained with the team 4-5 times a week. So there was a big problem."

In general, the number of training sessions is an important point in Tim's development. When he played in CSKA, his partners had 5 lessons a day, and he had 13. Dad paid for additional classes for his son, and before the games he went with him to the so-called shootaround is pure shooting practice on game day. Such activities are needed for players to aim at the rings.

So, in "Estudiantes" not only there were no "shooter rounds", but in general there were not enough trainings.

Dmitry Rudovsky: “The demo was great, but the reality was a little different. I didn’t have much time to study, and this is my mistake as, relatively speaking, a manager - after all, I’m not just a parent, but I did a lot of preparing Timofey.

In order to provide the morning training that we were promised, we need coaches, and they did not have coaches, because a coach who can come and conduct classes in Spain needs to be paid a full salary. The main part of the coaches in Spain are volunteers who work for 300-400 euros a month, they work somewhere, and in the evening they come to train. The same story was in Estudiantes. There was a head coach of the U15 school team, who also worked in the youth team and was the fourth assistant in the main team. He was up to his ears loaded with seniors and, of course, did not even think about dealing with us. Therefore, this “window” that was there in the morning, it was not filled with anything, unfortunately, at the age of 14, a very limited number of people have an understanding that the salvation of drowning people is the work of the drowning people themselves. Basically, these are guys who are deprived by God of growth, physical data, they begin to gnaw not thanks to, but in spite of. And if you have height, skills and some kind of authority, you start to live so a little on easy. Moreover, when he started playing for this team, people came up there, the father of a guy from the Spanish national team of the same age, Daniel Casarrubios in 2004, he said “juego de los listos”, which means he is already a ready-made pro - in thinking, in skills . He played in CSKA number one, immediately began to steer the team, scored a lot, it was clear that a qualitatively different level.

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Four sessions a week is a nightmare for a young player who is used to a completely different load. But Rudovsky was saved by the national team: if in six months at Estudiantes he played a total of 16 matches, then for the national team - more than 20. And the rivals, of course, were not from the championship of Madrid, but the “youth team” of Spain, Turkey, Italy, Slovenia, Serbia . It was a good help that helped keep Timofey in good shape and, so to speak, test himself at a higher level.

Return to Russia

It all ended pretty quickly: in March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic hit, and the pupils of the Estudiantes school were asked to go home. Rudovsky left and never returned to Spain.

Timofey Rudovsky: “The pandemic has begun, the first cases have appeared in Madrid. They closed a couple of schools. I had a roommate, an Estonian, his mother was Russian, so he spoke Russian almost fluently. We spent almost the whole year together, and we are told at the same moment: “You have to go, such are the rules. You can not return for a while, we will tell you when you can return. Go home." This was a week after the start of the pandemic. I assumed I wouldn't be back, but I wasn't sure. Because I thought that at least the season should be finished. Moreover, the contract and everything else. On the other hand, I didn't want to go back at all. Meaning? Therefore, I would say that I was lucky that the pandemic began and I was able to leave there.”

Timofey had an agreement with the school. It was not even a contract, because at this age players cannot sign contracts, but a training agreement. According to this document, he could not play for anyone else. But no one can forbid changing a school for a child, and the Rudovskys understood: this is just our way out.

Departure for the USA

Dmitry Rudovsky: “During the pandemic, we were in Moscow, training and preparing for something, for a brighter future. At that moment, one of our friends - his son also plays basketball, we often crossed paths, became friends - said that he had a good friend who himself coaches a junior college in California, at a good level there for many years, and he knows many trainers. He said: “We found a decent option through him, if you want, you can contact him, send him a video of Timofey, and he can find something there. ” We got in touch, got to know each other, I sent a video and literally 3 days later I received a message that the Sierra Canyon school coach wants to talk to you and invite you to come and join his team. We saw that Sierra Canyon is very well listed, one of the top teams, many children of former pro players play there.

In the summer, before leaving for the USA, Rudovsky trained with the youth project of CSKA. If suddenly, for some reason, he did not manage to leave for America, then he would continue his development precisely in the “army” system. Two coaches from the U16 team Alexander Gerasimov and Ilya Kuznetsov just arrived at the club, who knew Timofey and his capabilities very well.

But everything worked out with the USA.

Timofey Rudovsky: “I heard about Sierra Canyon about two weeks before there was any information that I would go to America at all. When I watched all sorts of highlights on YouTube, it seemed that the guys there are really tough, they play very well. And suddenly it so happened that a familiar coach went to talk to the coach, showed him my highlights and said: “The coach is interested.” I was very surprised, shock, one might say. I can’t even imagine, from the word “absolutely”. Then I just prepared, trained, I would say, I even forgot. It seems to me that I went almost with a clear head, because all the time before leaving I was just preparing.”

Dmitry Rudovsky: “Timofey studied at CSKA, then in Spain, and the logical continuation was to go to a strong school program in the USA in order to stay at the same level as development. Therefore, we accepted the offer, especially since it was accompanied by significant financial bonuses - "scolarship", which, in principle, is not offered to foreigners, but it was offered to us. We didn’t lose anything financially, we didn’t have to pay for anything, while Tim plays in the top team, studies at the school where the children of Alec Baldwin, Will Smith studied, the Kardashian family was noted there, Kendal Jenner, who is now Devin Booker’s girlfriend She is also a graduate of this school. That is, it is a cool school in terms of academic, educational. Therefore, there was no doubt, we went there.”

Timofey Rudovsky: “When I arrived, the first day I went into the hall, got acquainted with the team, I was just trembling. It was really uncomfortable. The funny thing is: I thought I knew English, but when they started talking, I couldn’t connect two words and didn’t understand anything. So for the first couple of months I was a little lost.

Training began, at first I was not distracted, but on the contrary, very concentrated. But he did not understand very well what the coach was saying. I got confused on the set. Suppose now the situation there is like this, you need to give a pass diagonally, and he just shouts: diagonal! I don't understand what he is crying about. I give the same transmission as the previous time - he yells at me. Here they have such a scheme: if you make mistakes, they shout at you. And every time. And maybe the fifth time, when you just say you don't understand, maybe he'll explain. And so it is necessary to grasp everything on the fly.

Game with Bronnie

Rudovsky went to the USA in the 10th grade, and there are 12 of them in all. True, the first year was very conditional, because the students spent almost the whole year in quarantine and studied remotely, there was almost no training. They began in February-March, and the entire school season was compressed to a month and a half. And here's the bad luck - Timofey could not play for the school for the first month, and not a calendar month, but a competitive one. Such rules: you changed school, you already played for the national team, so please sit for a month without matches. And so it turned out that Rudovsky missed the entire 10th grade.

Sports activity began in the summer, when school teams began playing in the AAU - a kind of Summer League for high school students. There, Timofey was first declared for one team, and then sent to be strengthened in Strive For Greatness.

NBA fans have probably heard some familiar phrase now. Strive For Greatness is a documentary about NBA superstar LeBron James. And at the same time, this is the name of the team, the backbone of which is assembled on the basis of the Sierra Canyon school and in which, for example, the son of Scotty Pippen and the son of LeBron, Bronnie James, performs. And in general, this is a very stellar team, from which five NBA players have come out over the past six years.

Timofei Rudovsky: “The first time I met Bronnie was on my first day, when I first came to the gym. I’m already worried - I don’t know, there was such a feeling that he would come now, but I can’t even imagine what kind of person he is. Interesting. But it was like that, with an experience, so to speak.

The first time he comes, and I understand that he is already late. I think maybe it happens, maybe it doesn’t happen, but he can do it, maybe he’s not forbidden. After a week, I'm quite used to it.

By the way, last year it so happened that we didn't spend much time with the guys together at the basketball court, because the pandemic and everything else, we had all sorts of rules. So we didn't talk to each other much. I hardly spoke to Bronnie at all, probably for a month, well, sometimes, maybe in training - hello, what's up, everyone. When we started spending a little more time with the team all together, we started talking to him. Well, anyway, with the fear that maybe I'll do something wrong, I'm covered, I'll go back home. Such. (laughs)

Then, of course, everything got better, everything is everyday, Bronnie and Bronnie. Our team spirit is like this: the coach tells us that we are a family, we are all for each other, we all consider each other brothers, the team consists of brothers. It doesn’t matter what is there, we don’t betray, we love each other, surprisingly we don’t have any disagreements at all, no quarrels, nothing.”

Dmitry Rudovsky: “What I see is that everyone has equal relations with everyone in the team, they have nice relations. There is no one against whom we are friends, who is not friends with whom, we still communicate, there are many team events where the guys spend time together. Tim communicates with Bronnie in the same way as with the rest, but you need to understand that Bronnie has a specific life, he has been a celebrity since birth, and this leaves an imprint on his character, demeanor, relationships, he does not seek to get close to people, he has an even relationship with everyone, it is impossible to single out what is friends with this or that. He has friends, but they are from a different field, eSports, there is a team that is very famous and popular in America (the FaZe Clan team - approx. "Intercept"), Bronnie's career in this team is no less popular than Bronnie the basketball player.

Tips from LeBron

LeBron James himself comes to Sierra Canyon matches. If in the season he is busy with his affairs with the Lakers and, in principle, even when he comes, he follows all the rules, then in summer matches he can calmly sit on the team bench and start giving advice - either to the head coach, or . .. to Timofey himself.

Timofey Rudovsky: “When the playoffs were over for the Lakers, LeBron started showing up a little at games, attending. We played with Strive near Los Angeles, we had a few games. He came there for the first time. Then I had a story that a friend decided to cut my hair, saying: "I can cut, don't worry, let's try." He gave me a haircut, almost bald. I looked like I came from the army. You can imagine: a dude 206 cm, runs around with an army man's haircut and pushes everyone with angry eyes. At those games, I decided to cut myself with the guys, because it was a lot of fun, and hustle a little. The coach then tells me: LeBron asks me my name and then he says he's crazy. It was funny to me, the first impression was that I was crazy on the court in a good way - with dedication, with basketball anger. The next day, he already gave me a little hint during the game, after which I became, one might say, familiar with him.

At that time I was already used to it. He treats us all from Sierra Canyon, Strive like nephews. Uncle Bro, something like that. He called, he said: “Here you could give the pass down to the big one, and if your defender goes down from you for insurance, then you can get the pass back for three and throw it calmly, and not throw it with a pause and with uncertainty after the pass, when you looked down at the ring, down again and threw the airball. As I did at the time. He says - well, you could look there. I listened and the advice just soaked in. I would say so. Ears listen by themselves to such people .”

In addition to Bronnie James, LeBron's youngest son Bryce also studies at Sierra Canyon. He is a little younger and while playing for the JV team, JV is a junior varsity, that is, a junior team. Soon he will grow up to the main school staff.

Of course, all the attention that LeBron James draws to the Sierra Canyon team can't help but spill over to the players. Even despite the fact that Rudovsky only periodically starts and spends not the longest minutes on the floor, the number of his Instagram followers is steadily growing - when he came, there were less than a thousand, now there are more than five.

Cons Sierra Canyon

But playing in a super strong school team is not only pluses, but also inevitably minuses. Among the obvious ones are less playing time, less role and less attention from the head coach.

Dmitry Rudovsky: “Of course, there are difficulties, because the team is overloaded with five-star, four-star prospects and so on. We discussed this with Timofey in the summer, and I told the coach that it was better for us to move on, because there is an overload of stars, in a team of 3-4 people for each position. At the same time, oddly enough, there are not so many big guys, in the summer they took a five-star prospect, a guy who can play in the NBA in a couple of years, Kijanny Wright, under him there is one big white guy, not so advanced in skills, and to the position there is practically no fourth number, they do not formally use it. But we spoke with the coach beforehand, I asked him about the position, because we don’t want to go under the basket, a person has developed all his life as a defender, first or second, well, maybe play third, played in Russia, got the best third number. The answer was that we play 1-4, that is, we have one big and four perimeter defenders who interact, combine, and so on.

I used to call Americans deceitful, hypocrites, etc., now I coined the term delicate - flexible (flexible - approx. "Interception"). They promise very easily, they refuse very easily, they deceive very easily, and they have their own goals and objectives, and any price is justified. But there is no need to wring your hands, cry, you need to understand this and, proceeding from this, very carefully and carefully evaluate everything that is said. Therefore, in the summer, when it started again - you will make a big mistake if you leave, Timofey is an iron player in the starting line-up, etc. - I let it go, I understood that in the situation that we have, he has little chance of playing at the start . In the main team - of course, but at the start - it was cunning. I laid out in positions why they should play, and not Timofey, and even if he comes out at the start, what option he will have in attack. It all looked not very nice in terms of playing time and opportunities to continue to be active on the court.

But it so happened that Timofey stayed in Sierra Canyon. He himself wanted this, said that he would work even harder in training and earn a place in the starting lineup. He was the only shooter on the team and one of the few who could shoot three-pointers with a good percentage - it seemed to Tim that he had all the cards in his hands.

And the season started really well. In the US, there is a Fall League tournament - this is not the official start of the season yet, but pre-season games. In them, Rudovsky played a lot and well, but at that time several key players were absent from the team or were injured at once. As soon as the season began, the guys returned, and Timofey again began to receive 10-15 minutes of playing time. And there is a suspicion that this school will no longer be different - there are too many players who are portrayed not just a future in the NBA, but a stellar future. Bronnie James, Kijanny Wright, Amari Bailey, Shai Odom, the list goes on.

Plus, Timofey grew another 4 cm, and the coaching staff was tempted to use Rudovsky in the "four" - a position in which he had never played before and does not want to play. He does not have the skills of a power forward, there is no size to push in the three-second zone. Only growth, and if at the school level it can still work, then further is the road to nowhere.

Reclassify

But there is a way out. After the end of this academic year, Timofey will have to unlearn in the 12th grade and then it will be possible to go to college to play in the NCAA. In America, there is such a thing as "reclassify" - this is an opportunity to skip the last year of school, spending the summer studying and passing exams in advance. In Russia, this is called graduating externally.

This chance is used by many athletes who have long decided on their future, and the school only hinders them in achieving their goal. A special commission is assembled to decide the issue, and in cases with athletes, this issue is often resolved in their favor.

Timofey Rudovsky: “I think it would be much more efficient to get into the university next year. Because there is a completely different preparation, and they immediately prepare for the NBA. At school, you have a lot of choices - you can be a lawyer, or maybe you will go to engineering, so basketball may not be the most important thing, you go to school, not play basketball. At the university, the situation will be completely different: if I play basketball, then this is the profession that I have chosen. So it seems to me that this is the most normal solution that you can choose from all possible.

True, there is an important “but” in this whole story - in order to use the reclassify option, the student must have good grades, and since Sierra Canyon takes its academic program quite seriously, it is not enough just to go to school .

Dmitry Rudovsky: “For this, there should be good grades, so far there are problems with this. As I said, the school is serious in terms of the academic program. As many people say, in the classroom we read and analyze the Bible, it is not there, there is Shakespeare in the original language, medieval English, which even an American still needs to understand, and romanticism in British poetry of the 19th century with Byron and other authors, and "The Son of Frankenstein" , and Fitzgerald. A serious program, not the English that "mom washed the frame" and "Timofey goes to school." A university level program, so this school has a very high acceptance rate for Ivy League colleges. Therefore, the children of very famous people study there, because it gives serious training. But it is difficult to combine both serious sports training and serious academic training. ”

Interest from the NCAA

In order to skip a class, you need to understand if someone from the NCAA is interested in you. And Timofey Rudovsky is interesting. He was already called in by Anferney Hardaway, former NBA star and current head coach of the Memphis Tigers in the NCAA Division I. But Memphis is still a strong team, the top 30 of the league, so it may be difficult for Tim to get more time there than he gets now.

The way out will be an invitation from a more modest university, but one where a team could be built around him so that he develops. And there is also such a university - the University of California at Santa Barbara with the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos team.

Dmitry Rudovsky: “But in Santa Barbara there is a chance to become a start player, play a lot and be noticed, and play in the position that is needed […] We will go to the campus, see if everything is all right arrange, we will see what will be written in the official offer. Perhaps next year it will be possible to skip this pattern.”

Now Timofey's schedule is something like this: getting up at 5:00-5:30, going to the gym, throwing training, which he arranges for himself, and then - the way home, shower, breakfast and school. You can get the necessary physical activity only in this way. In the evening - team training for three hours. But the guys do not spend all three hours on the floor - it can be watching a movie, analyzing the matches played, scouting the closest opponent, and only then training.

The schedule is hard, but which of our guys abroad is easy. I hope everything works out for Tim, and this year we will see him play for the university in the NCAA.

If you liked the text, subscribe to my telegram channel - there I regularly talk about Russian basketball.

Photo: personal archive of Dmitry and Timofey Rudovsky, Good Looks

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How to turn whipped cream into 260 thousand subscribers and 14 million likes. CSB & TikTok Star Interview - The Interception - Blogs

Editor's Note: You are reading the user blog "The Interception" about European basketball. Interested in this rich phenomenon? Then subscribe!

Kristina Gulina plays ASB and makes videos on TikTok. She succeeds in both: the girl is invited to her place by Russian and foreign professional clubs, and her TikTok account has exceeded 260 thousand subscribers and 13.5 million likes.

"Interception" talked to Kristina about how to find the strength to refuse contracts with serious clubs at the age of 18 and follow the dream of playing abroad, and also how to become popular if you just play basketball and you have telephone.

“I started playing basketball in the fourth grade,” Christina says. - Before that, I was engaged in ballroom dancing, went to ballet, drawing and rhythmic gymnastics. But somehow I had a physical education lesson, where my first coach came to us. She was looking for those who are younger, and I was just studying with the guys a year older. I raised my hand, she came up to me, asked for the number of her parents and invited me to basketball.

At that time I didn't know what it was at all, I wasn't interested at all. But the coach called my parents and invited me again. I didn't really want to go, but my mother offered to try. I came to the first training session, and, of course, there was no basketball there - catch-up, relay race. But there was such a team atmosphere, I immediately liked it. I soon became very ill and began to train normally only towards the end of the school year, but in the fifth grade I already went to sports.

— How did your career start?

- Just from the Neva Sports School, which I graduated from last year. In the 10th grade, I received an offer from Spartak, which at that time was playing in Super League-2. I started training with them, they even gave me a contract, but for some reason I couldn't sign it. Therefore, I did not end up in Spartak. My coach suggested that I play ASB for experience.

— So you ended up in the Black Bears?

- Yes. I went there to watch, I liked everything, everyone liked me, I liked everyone - so I stayed there. I played for this team for two years, during which time we became champions of the Student Superleague, champions of the Belov League. In general, it was a tremendous experience, because we also trained with the girls of the Black Bears from the Super League, we had joint training and training camps. There was a large and experienced coaching staff, so it was interesting to work.

- Why did you leave this team?

— Last summer, I decided I wanted to try something new. I have long received offers from GUTID (St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design - note "Interception"), but then I did not want to switch. And in the summer I thought, why not. I wanted to try to play in a new team, and this is a very promising team. The coach changed there, it was Gennady Shchetinin, with whom I worked at Spartak. I thought it would be a very interesting and good experience.

— You had several chances to sign a contract with professional clubs. You mentioned Spartak, but I also know about the youth squads of the Kursk Dynamo, the UMMC from Yekaterinburg… Most athletes cannot resist in such situations.

— At the time when I was offered contracts, I did not really want to leave St. Petersburg. I wanted to study here, because sport is sport, but any injury, and sport can end. Therefore, education is very important. But it was still decided with the whole family. Then it seemed to us that it was better to stay at home to study and gain basketball experience. I can always leave, but at that moment we decided that it was better to stay.

USA, Spain, Russia

— Do you have plans to play abroad? This is much more difficult to do as soon as you agree to some kind of long-term contract with Russian clubs.

— Yes, I would like to play somewhere abroad. Last summer, I had the option to fly to America, but the quarantine did not allow. It did not work then, but in the future, I think this option will still appear.

— Wow, have you been called yet?

— Yes, the agency and I sent the video to the university. They liked me, they said they would help me. But I wrote there already when it was necessary to sign documents and take an exam in English. And this exam is very difficult, TOEFL, even in a month you will not be able to prepare well for it. I wasn't 100% ready then. Plus, quarantine was imposed on the whole thing. We agreed to write later when I was ready for the exam and to move.

Are you ready?

— Slowly but surely. Trying! There you need to score a certain number of points. I am an athlete, and there is not much needed, but it still should be more than half. Otherwise, they simply won't take it. As I know, in America you need to study well even though you are an athlete. Up to the point that if you study poorly, then you will be removed from training. It is important.

— Now only with the USA?

- There is still an opportunity to play in Spain. There is the Euroleague, and it is closer to America. My parents will be able to come, and I will be able to return home faster if something happens. According to the documents, everything is also easier there. I still think that it will be better for me, I have not decided yet.

— Other things being equal, you won't even consider contracts from Russian teams?

- No, I will (smiles). I'm interested in this too. Now I feel better about this, it seems to me that I am now more ready than before to fly to some other city, Kursk or Yekaterinburg, for example. But, of course, if you compare it with abroad, then it is my priority now.

European Student Games

— You will represent Russia at the European Student Games this year. Tell me what is it?

- I got there because our team won the 3x3 tournament. When I was driving, I thought that it would be connected only with the ASB, but then it turned out that a victory there means a victory in the Russian U23 championship in 3x3 basketball. I was very surprised! And since we won there, we will go to the European Games in July. Unless, of course, quarantine does not interfere and everything will be fine.

— Who will you play against there?

- These will be university teams 3x3. I think it should be a good experience. And last summer, I also played in the Junior Junior League, and teams, agents looked at us ... I got into the lists of the U18 team, but then quarantine was imposed again and everything was canceled. And so it would be possible to play in a major tournament in the summer of 2020. It's sad, of course, because I wanted to compete with other girls, test my strength, how ready you are to play at such a level.

- You won U23, but you're 18 now...

- Yes (smiles). And at the European Games we will play U23 too. I hope, of course, there will be younger girls, like me, but in general this is an older age.

Whipped cream, millions of likes, fans

- You have TikTok 260 thousand followers and 14 million likes. How to become popular in this social network if you play basketball?

- It all started with Musical.ly, which became TikTok. I downloaded it because it was possible to shoot videos with music, I didn’t even know that you could create an account. My friends and I shot some stupid videos there, and it looks like I saved it all as drafts. But once my friend and I made a video on a trend, when people threw whipped cream and caught it in their mouths. We did it, and then I - by chance, it seems - published it. Then I logged out of the app like I always do, and the next morning I get a lot of notifications, the video got 100k views, 20k likes. I've never had anything like this, I was very surprised. Although I later abandoned it all anyway and did not continue, because it was difficult to figure out what was what.

And later this application became TikTok, I began to understand a little, to see what people are doing, what they are filming. And last summer, when I was on vacation, I thought why not, why not show my life, some beautiful views, something else. I have been interested in this industry since childhood, I liked editing videos. I started posting videos, and gradually the interest of subscribers began to grow. So I started making tik toks.

— At what point did you realize that you had become popular?

- It probably happened when I had about 80 thousand subscribers. It was at this point that people began to write to me a lot, subscribed to Instagram, drew me, made some videos for me, sent huge messages. It was very unusual for me that strangers can write me some pleasant things.

I was even told something like this: "Chris, thank you very much, thanks to you I lost my tall complex." How can I somehow help people by filming my face and my life, to lose some complexes? But I think it's very cool. I was glad that I could somehow bring something good into this world.

By the way, I started showing basketball in my profile only for the last six months. Before, people didn’t even know that I was playing basketball. I didn’t advertise it at all, they only saw my face and my life. But at one point, when I shot some kind of motivational video with basketball, the coverage increased a lot, I realized that people like it. I started to include more basketball in my content and the popularity skyrocketed. Some even wrote to me that thanks to me they went to the basketball section! Even adults who were just watching TikTok suddenly got up and went to play basketball.

- It seems to me that such things should motivate not only them, but also you.

— It still motivates me.

— How often do you receive advertisements?

— This is more of a barter, not advertising yet. Some clothes, some discounts, cosmetics. Now it's more likely to happen at the barter level, but directly to some kind of major advertising ... It seems that this has never happened before.

- 260 thousand subscribers is quite a lot. Do they recognize you on the streets?

- Relatively common. Many just put on a surprised face, and it is clear that they have recognized because they turn around. Some come up, take pictures, say something nice. Others will see, and then in the evening they write that they saw me, but were afraid to approach me. And whoever comes up, we take pictures with them, chat, hug.

- I saw that your teammates are also on TikTok. Did you lure them there or did they do it themselves?

- They came by themselves! I have friends, Danae and Masha.

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