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How many people in the us play basketball
How Many People Around The World Play Basketball? Shocking Stats!
After the first successful basketball game held in Springfield Massachusetts in 1891, Naismith knew that the game he invented will be well known and played by millions of people around the world. Discovering the game wasn’t only Naismith’s success but success for all athletes that wanted to play indoors.
Over the years past, basketball evolved, and many changes happened. These changes resulted in a more civilized and entertaining basketball game. Players had to adapt to these changes for them to play better inside the court. Whether the changes happened were bad or good for players, it doesn’t matter. As long as there are still many players who play the game, then I don’t think basketball will die because of such changes.
Basketball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the history of mankind. The game was played by millions of people around the globe. We all know that this game was played by millions but what is the exact number? Why do people love basketball, and why are players increasing every year? These questions will be answered in this article. We are going to put a fact on the table about how many people in the world play basketball and how it became popular. Let’s go!
How Many People Around The World Play Basketball?
Before we proceed to the other questions, let us first recognize the numbers of people in the world that play basketball.
How many people around the world play basketball? According to FIBA statistics, there are at least 900 million-plus people around the globe who are playing basketball. Every country has its basketball league, and statistics show that there are at least 215 basketball leagues worldwide.
These numbers may increase over time because of the rapidly growing population around the world.
Basketball was invented in the United States, and Americans brought the game to Asia. Asian countries like the Philippines, China, and South Korea have a massive increase in players over the years past. The United States is very far from Asia, which means that basketball has taken over the world!
Quick Peek Of The History Of Basketball
Basketball was invented in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, by a Canadian physical instructor, James Naismith. Naismith was tasked by his head boss to discover a game that can be played indoors and will help the athlete’s conditioning. They also wanted players to be able to keep in shape during winters.
Naismith tried the game, and he divided his class of 18 into two teams (nine players each). He used a soccer ball as their ball and peach basket as their basketball ring. The objective of the game that Naismith gave to his students was to throw the ball into the fruit basket. Every time the ball goes in, the janitor will use a ladder and retrieve the ball. Naismith made 13 rules which are still currently used by all basketball leagues around the world.
After the successful invention, the YMCA decided to spread basketball through the United States, Canada, and all over the world. In 1893 was the first European basketball match arranged by Mel Rideout. The Americans had easily spread the game to the Asian countries under their jurisdiction.
The game was spread fast all over the world like a virus. After WW2, each international countries started to establish their basketball leagues.
How Did Basketball Become More Popular?
Basketball started to grow and be well known in the early 20th century and became more popular around the globe in the mid and late 20th century. At first, Naismith doesn’t know that basketball will grow as a Narra tree. His only focus at that time is to finish the task given by his boss.
After a successful launch of basketball in the United States, basketball began to spread around the world quickly. The graduates of the YMCA school travel across Europe and until Aisa to introduce their new sport. Some cold countries were glad about the invention because they need indoor sport so that their athletes can play even during winters. The marketing made in basketball is successful. Basketball has grown tremendously and shall continue to grow in the coming years.
As of now, basketball is stable, and the numbers of players are continuing to rise. I wonder how happy Dr. Naismith will be if he saw how his game was loved by all people in the world.
5 Reasons Why People Love Basketball
Basketball is one of the most loved sports in the whole world. There are various reasons why people love basketball:
1. Team Sport
The first reason why people love playing basketball is that it is a team sport. Humans are scientifically proven to have a healthier life if we have a healthy social life. Being social is one way that helped humans in the past to become more civilized, and this is why all countries today are successful.
Basketball is a team sport that helps players to be more social and to learn to work with others. It is fun because five players will work as one and you don’t have to work alone to win. The challenge here is that teams must work together to win. If a team fails to work as a cohesive unit, then they will probably have a higher chance to lose.
2. Accessibility
Another reason why people around the world love basketball is because the game can play anywhere. There are many courts established all over cities, and you can find a basketball court anywhere you go. Basketball requires only a ring and a ball, and it doesn’t need any special requirements. There are also different types of games you can execute even if you have no basketball ring, and all you have is a basketball.
3. Physical Benefits
Basketball has many physical benefits that can help both the physical health and mental health of players. You will get a full-body exercise by playing one basketball game. You will move all your body parts. Legs and knees for running, upper body for defending, head for thinking, and arms and fingers for dribbling.
Basketball can help your mental health because it is scientifically proven that the more a person exercises, the more it will likely keep their mental health healthy. The game also requires critical thinking to execute plays properly and avoid unwanted turnovers.
4. High Competitive
Humans are born to compete. People love basketball because it gives us a chance to compete and prove ourselves to others. Playing a sport is more fun if you have to compete with an opponent. You can compete for 1-on-1 or 5-on-5 anywhere as long as there is a basketball court.
5. High Paced Game
Another reason why people love to play basketball is that because basketball is a high paced game. There are only a few dull moments during a ballgame like timeouts and free-throws. One usual basketball game has four quarters with 12 minutes of action each quarter. Each basketball game is exciting to watch primarily if an ace team will go against another ace team or if it is a close game.
How Many Players In The NBA?
Let’s go check out how many players are currently playing in the NBA. We are going to check how many Americans and international players are running the league. Let’s go!
American Players
In the NBA, statistics show that 80 percent of NBA players are American citizen players. Knowing that each NBA team has 15 players. If you add it up or times it into 30 teams, the answer will be 450 players (not including the free agents). 80 percent of 450 is the number of American citizen players.
International Players
According to the NBA, 108 players are playing in the league that is living from 38 different countries. Only 20 percent of international players are playing in the NBA, and the numbers will most likely increase in the next following years.
For international players, it is a dream to play in the NBA. If you are not an American citizen, then most likely your chances of playing in the NBA are low. Even most of the free agents in the NBA are having a hard time getting a contract. That is why most free agents like Lance Stephenson preferred to play basketball overseas because it is easier to get a contract.
What International Country Have The Most NBA Players?
As of the NBA season 2019-2020, the NBA statistics show that Canada has produced more talented players that successfully played in the NBA. Canada has 49 players, while European countries such as France, Serbia, and Croatia have a total of 86 players.
These numbers will increase in the coming years as the numbers of good players in other countries are growing.
Who Was The First International Player In The NBA?
The first international player to play in the NBA was Hank Biasatti. Biasatti is an Italian baseball player and a basketball player. He grew up in Windsor, Ontario where he was a basketball star during his college year and played baseball for the East Windsor Cubs.
Biasatti decided to pursue his basketball career. He was invited to the inaugural training camp of the Toronto Huskies in the first season of the Basketball Association of America, which later evolved into the NBA. Biasatti was also selected by the Boston Celtics but never played for them.
After an impressive basketball career, Biasatti decided to leave his basketball career because his top priority is baseball. Even though his basketball career did not last long, Biasatti is still considered the first international player to play in the NBA.
Final Verdict
Basketball was one of the best sports that have been invented in human history. Many changes make people dive into the conclusion that basketball will end soon because of the changes that happened. With the rapidly increasing number of players in basketball, I don’t see that basketball will die soon.
The increasing number of players around the world can mean that sooner or later the NBA will be filled with many talented international basketball players. The game is involved along with the evolution of the players.
Now that you know how many people play basketball around the world, I hope you continue to support this awesome sport.
Why do you like playing basketball? Does playing basketball make you happy? Let us hear your opinion in the comments section below!
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How Many People In The World Play Basketball? – Basketball Word!
Basketball is played by millions of people around the world and it is considered the fastest-growing sport with its popularity rising each year globally.
How many people in the world play basketball? FIBA states that at least 450 million people worldwide are playing basketball today. There are 213 countries that have professional basketball leagues and national teams and is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. It is also estimated that China has over 300 million Chinese people playing the sport as of right now.
Although these are just estimates, the game of basketball is fairly cheap and easy to get a game going. The popularity of basketball has grown also due to the way the National Basketball Association (NBA) markets its product Internationally.
Quick Fact: F.I.B.A stands forFédération Internationale de Basketball
If you are interested in checking out the best basketball equipment and accessories then you can find them by Clicking Here! The link will take you to Amazon.com
Why basketball is so popular?
Basketball is one of the few team sports that you can watch then get off your butt, head over to the court where people are playing, and join in. People young and old take up playing basketball because its fun, challenging and you get a great workout without even realizing it. You don’t need any special equipment or a certain amount of players to get a game going. There are so many games you can play and even create. From 1 on 1 to five on five there’s always a game ready to be played. You can even go to a hoop and play by yourself. Yeah, I know maybe not as much fun as with some friends but try creating some games on your own if there’s no one to play with. Need some ideas click here for basketball games you can play on your own.
The game of basketball is an easy game to learn the rules but difficult to play, that’s the challenge for us all. But the game is nothing short of exciting, as you can be right in the action immediately. The best part about basketball is that you can learn to play while having fun, the health benefits are great to get you in shape and lose a couple of extra pounds while you play without even realizing it. For every hour of play, you can burn anywhere from 200 to 800 calories depending on how hard you work your body. It’s an excellent way to meet new people when you are on a basketball team with four other players. I can’t tell you how many people I met through the game of basketball.
But what exactly makes the sports so popular as it’s a difficult sport to excel at and play?
Growing up I love the game of basketball, as kids, we would shoot the ball at anything a street sign, a garbage bin, it didn’t matter we just love to play the game. I couldn’t afford to play any sport that involved a lot of money. Basketball was the cheapest sport for me to play, it was free all you needed was a basketball. We had basketball hoops and courts everywhere. My friends also had back yard hoops, the adjustable kind that I would go play on all the time and do all sorts of dunks on. Going to a park and getting a game going was relatively easy.
My love for the game grew further watching the NBA in an era where Michael Jordan was dominating his competition and winning title after title. As kids, we would replicate his moves whether it be dunks, fadeaways, or impossible layups, that was the fun of it. We would have games where I was Jordan and my friend was Charles Barkley and vice versa. Usually, you would do the moves that the player you were mimicking was known for.
The NBA is very smart and how they promote their product. They are constantly finding ways to entertain and create new fan bases in different countries. Especially to young kids, the Superstar players in the N.B.A. alone are some of the most popular athletes in the world. This alone attracts spectators to the sport and these players are celebrities by default. Every kid wants their shoe and every kid wants to be them.
The Growing of International stars in the NBA
According to the N.B.A., there are 108 international players from 38 countries and territories. While there are 450 players in the N.B.A across all teams in the league, International players account for just over 25 percent. That is remarkable in which at a time most of the NBA thought scouts were wasting their time overseas or across the border searching for International talent. This is just not the case anymore. Click here for the list of International Players that play in the N.B.A. and you will be taken to the N.B.A. website.
This has me thinking about what one player can do to change a country’s interest in the game if he becomes successful and makes it into the league. Because now that player’s home country has a reason to follow their the game and track these players moves hoping he has success. This gets more people interested even kids, this player is a role model.
Making it into the NBA is an Impossible Dream just based on statistics alone, it’s 3 in 10000 chance or 0.03 %. That’s 10000 really good players I would imagine. The odds of making the N.B.A from overseas is even greater, if you are not playing Division 1 basketball you must dominate the professional league as someone who is very young or at least someone who shows promise. Scouts are constantly looking for the next Greek freak and they will go far and wide to find him. Are you him?
Will the N.B.A have an International team in the league?
There have been rumors for years that the NBA was going to add a foreign team to the league. But it was quite obvious that traveling would be an issue for players and teams especially for the foreign teams as most of the games away would be in the United States. It would have to make sense to have stretches of games away overseas and stretches of games at home in the U.S. Either way the solution would be difficult to make simple with the schedule of an 82-game season.
Quick Fact: The NBA has been playing exhibition games in Europe since 1978.
But if they somehow could make this work it would be the reason for many new fans to watch the N.B.A. and alongside with and more kids would picking up the game of basketball to play.
In Canada, we have one team the Toronto Raptors and every province in Canada is cheering for them to win the championship every year. 38 million people 10 different provinces cheering for the Raptors, now if this was hockey it’s a completely different story. I could imagine that if you had one European team it would be the same as many of the other countries would cheer their European friends on.
Yao Ming Effect
Yao Ming is a classic example of a successful basketball player that stood at seven-foot five inches tall, all the way from the other side of the world, China. He became the first Chinese basketball player to make the NBA. Soon followed was a huge market for the NBA. Yao Ming had the whole country of china on his back of almost 1.4 billion following his every move. Do you know how many jerseys he probably sold?
Yao Ming played for the Houston Rockets, while every basketball game Houston played it was broadcasted on tv in China. Although it would be early in the morning because of the different time zones. Yao was actually really good and Houston was making the playoffs almost every year, how they did is another story.
The success of Yao Ming has the NBA forming and funding academies in China and in India, you could probably guess that the reason for this is the number of people that reside in China and India. If they could just get a drop of the market in India it’s big money. These academies are where the best players in those countries play, train, go to school and live basketball.
You could imagine what the NBA is trying to do, billions of people in China and India if they can just get another player to be good enough to make it to the NBA you get the Yao Ming effect. China already loves the game. But India is still far behind they have their cricket and soccer which makes it two of the most popular sports in the world.
If the NBA can find that one player in India to uplift the country, it will spark a trend of one of their own playing basketball at the highest level. The NBA would love to capitalize on this as it did with Yao Ming.
India almost had their man but he fell short in 2016, but he was a 7’2 basketball player named Satnam Singh who almost fulfilled a dream. You can check out this documentary on Netflix called “One In A Billion”. The issue with the academy that he was in is they don’t always have the best coaches and we are talking about coaches that have coached at a high level. A Coach that knows what it takes to get to the pros. While also playing someone his own height to gain that experience.
The days are over for just being tall in the NBA, at 7 foot five with little to no skill isn’t going to happen, as players who are over 7 feet seem to be able to dribble and shoot better than the smaller guards in today’s N.B.A.
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90,000 Basketball in the USA 90,001 90,002 Basketball gathers 160 million spectators every year. 143 million watch basketball in the US. The basketball season lasts 8 months in the United States. Consequently, daily matches come to. an average of about 600 thousand viewers. And that's not counting those spectators to whom basketball comes home thanks to television. How to explain such popularity of basketball in the USA?
Just because he was born in this country? Hardly. By the way, in the same Springfield College, where Naismith gave a start in life to basketball, through the efforts of another teacher - Morgan - the world's first volleyball match was played. As you know, volleyball lives freely wherever you want, but not in your father's house. At home, they, so to speak, are not used for their intended purpose: basketball players play volleyball in their training. However, not only in training. Team USA, which at 1966 participated in the World Volleyball Championship, was made up of basketball players.
Why is the audience of American basketball so big? It will be easier for me to answer this question if I first explain why basketball is less popular in other countries.
Basketball scares off the complexity of its rules, which also change very often, and excessive logic in determining the winner. The rules by which football and hockey are played, not to mention volleyball or tennis, are quite simple. I understand that some football or hockey patriot, offended (although there is nothing to be offended: the simplicity of the rules, their accessibility is a huge advantage), can come up with questions that I personally would not be able to answer. But I'm not talking about the theoretical side of things, but about the practical. Let's say a person who is very far from sports decided to fill the gap in his education and went to football, hockey and basketball first. He will comprehend the wisdom of football pretty quickly. It will be more difficult for him at a hockey match, but, in the end, he will understand what's what here. In basketball, he will have a bad time without outside help.
Why, a mere mortal - come to James Naismith, the father of basketball, a man who relatively recently saw his offspring (in 1936, already a man of advanced age, he visited Berlin, where a basketball tournament was played for the first time at the Olympics), come to him now to attend a basketball game, he would torture his neighbors with questions. “Why did the ball hit the basket, but they didn’t add two points?”, “Why do they add two points? The ball didn't hit the basket...' It would be explained to him that in the first case the cylinder rule was violated by the player of the attacking team, and in the second by the defending team. He would have asked what the cylinder rule is. He would not have had time to finish the explanation, as he would immediately ask: “Why are free throws hit for this personal mistake, but they didn’t hit for exactly the same two minutes ago?” They would explain to him that then it was the 36th minute of the match, and now it is the 38th, and, therefore, the last three minutes rule is already in effect. I wouldn't want to be his neighbor...
In my lifetime, they introduced the three and thirty second rules, the cylinder rule, canceled the zone rule, and then, having modified it, returned it to basketball, the last three minutes rule was replaced by the last five minutes rule, and then, again in a slightly modified form, it became apply the last three minutes rule; when I started playing, they were removed from the court for four personal remarks, now they are removed for five . .. I'm not at all sure that I have listed all the changes that have taken place over the years ...
Isn't there a contradiction here, though: I wrote in the previous chapter that one of the main goals pursued by basketball legislators is to simplify the rules. The achievement of this goal, alas, is hampered by the desire to achieve the other two, which I also mentioned.
...You probably remember that the thirty second rule saved basketball's life, rejuvenated it. But the rules have become more complicated.
... The giant was located under the basket, received the ball and easily, since the basket was nearby, put it there. Then they expanded the free-throw zone and banned players from the attacking team from being there for more than three consecutive seconds. The three-second rule pushed the giant out from under the basket. Rational decision? Reasonable. But the rules have become more complicated.
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There are 8 Russians in the NCAA this season.
How are they? - The Interception - Blogs
Editor's note: You are reading the user blog Interception, which talks about European basketball. Don't forget that pluses are still the best way to thank the author.
Before the start of last season, I wrote this text. Then I talked to almost all the Russians who were preparing to compete in the NCAA - there were 11 of them at that time - and tried to understand why Russian youth began to leave more massively for American universities. There have never been such a number of Russians in the NCAA.
A year and a half has passed since then, and half of the guys have parted ways: Konstantin Dotsenko is now playing in the Loko farm club, Zakhar Vedischev plays at the heart of Krasnodar, Mark Tikhonenko signed a contract with Astana, Andre Toure recently played in Maykop in the second Super League, and Samson Ruzhentsev moved to the Serbian "Mega".
But some remained in America. They were joined by a few more guys who either just left Russia or got into the NCAA from American schools or the NJCAA. In this text, I will talk about all the Russians who play in the first division of the main student league in the world. If last season I wanted to explain why exactly they are leaving, now I have focused on their career.
If you prefer reading, then below is a large text with comments from the players themselves; but this time you have the opportunity not only to read, but also to watch a video about all of our in the NCAA. Inside is my story and a video interview with the guys.
If you watch a video on YouTube, don't forget to give it a thumbs up and leave a comment. This will help promote the channel. Subscribe if you love Russian basketball and want to know more about it.
And now - the promised text about our guys in America.
What is the NCAA
The NCAA is the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the United States and Canada. It includes almost 1300 schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions. The teams of these universities are represented not only in basketball - the NCAA also has competitions in American football, wrestling, fencing, bowling, softball, gymnastics, tennis and God knows what else.
But basketball is a very popular sport in the association. Both guys and girls have three divisions, which are ranked by strength. This text is only about those Russians who compete in the first, strongest, division.
The NCAA has a playoff called March Madness. When knockout games start, the whole country switches from professionals to students. Although during the season, the teams also have enough attention from fans: the clubs play in large and good arenas, many people come to the matches, the games are shown on television, and sometimes on national television. There are even universities whose fans spend the night in front of the arena in the hope of having time to buy a ticket.
So the NCAA is a really serious tournament, albeit a student one.
How many Russians are there
I spent an hour and a half of my life checking the composition of all the colleges that are represented in the first division. There are 358 of them. I broke my eyes, learned about the existence of several countries and even about the presence of basketball in these countries, but still I counted all the Russians.
I got eight people, and now we will get to know them better. The sequence on my list doesn't mean anything, it's just that way because I talked to the guys in that order.
I hope I haven't missed anyone. Please write in the comments if you know someone whom I have overlooked.
Evdokimov is the newest member of the NCAA Division I. He joined the Charleston Cougars - the name of the team of the University of Charleston from South Carolina - in early December last year.
This university belongs to mid-major. In the American system, there is a gradation of universities by strength - from low-major to high-major. Mid-major is the middle level. Most Russian guys perform at universities that fall into this category.
Before moving to the USA, Nikita played for the youth team of Lokomotiv-Kuban and for the national team. Last summer, the defender represented Russia under 20 at the Euro Challenger, even though he was only 18.
Evdokimov has an interesting story about how he fell in love with basketball. In fact, it is strange that he did not go into handball, because his dad is the famous Russian handball player Yegor Evdokimov. Six-time champion of Russia, champion of Spain, champion of Belarus, champion of Ukraine, participant of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. At the dawn of his career, Yegor Viktorovich played in his homeland, in the Chelyabinsk region, the city of Snezhinsk. Nikita was born there.
- I fell in love with basketball when I was 9 or 10 years old. My cousin and grandmother and I went on vacation to the Crimea. There was a playground where I constantly ran and played. Grandma suggested trying to sign up for basketball. And before that, I didn’t consider basketball as a sport at all ... But I went to a training session and instantly fell in love. Didn't miss it at all. Then Lokomotiv saw me at the Russian Championship. Together with a team from my city, from Chekhov, we took fourth place, and everyone was very surprised. I was seen by coach Petar Marinkovic, who called me to Loko, ”recalls Evdokimov.
He says that he could have been in the red-green system even earlier. He was invited to the Yug-Basket camp - this is a camp organized by the club and within which it looks for players in its youth system - but then Evdokimov was with relatives in the United States and could not come.
He ended up in the Loko system in 2017. True, Evdokimov says that, even while playing for Krasnodar, he often thought that he actually wanted to try his hand at American basketball. He has relatives living in the USA, he has been there more than once, and when the chance to move to the university appeared, he did not hesitate for a long time.
Evdokimov learned about the university's interest in him in advance, so he spent the summer with benefit: he trained individually with personal trainers in Moscow and Cyprus, where his father plays handball. There, the defender, at the request of the university coach, worked hard on three-pointers and performed at least 500 long-range shots a day.
Evdokimov will be coached at the College of Charleston by Pat Kelsey, a strong specialist who is widely known in college basketball. He once worked with Jeff Teague and Chris Paul.
Alex is not short for Alexander, but his passport name. He was not born in Russia, but in Canada, his parents went there to give birth to Alex. In this country, he lived the first year of his life, after which he left for Moscow. In memory of Canada, Alex has citizenship (he has a double one).
But he started playing basketball in Russia.
— I started playing basketball at Gloria when I was 10-11 years old. People came to my school - and I studied at an ordinary secondary school - who were looking for young guys who were ready to play basketball. They came into my class, saw that I was tall, did a couple of tests, asked me different questions and invited me to practice. I studied at Gloria for a long time, then I got into the MBA Junior Junior League, from there I was taken to the Super League. I played there for literally a year, and after graduating from high school I decided that it would be wise to go to the United States. I contacted Skryagin (Alexander Skryagin, ProFuturo Sports, - note "Interception"), because he was the only person who knows more about moving to the USA than me. We talked to him, I dropped my highlights to him, and he helped me find a school, - says Kotov.
Alex arrived in the US in 2017 and entered the Montverde Academy. This is a very famous program that prepares players for the NCAA. Kotov spent a year in Montverde and won the championship with this team, the result for the season is 35-0. Among Alex's partners then were, for example, RJ Barrett, who now plays for the New York Knicks in the NBA, and Turkish Efes center Philip Petrushev.
Alex left Montverde not immediately for the NCAA, but for the NJCAA. It is an association of junior colleges and is also often referred to as Juko. A common story for those who feel like they're not ready for the NCAA yet, but want to play hard and improve. Kotov spent two years in this association, after which he moved to the NCAA, to the Illinois State Redbirds team. This is also a representative university of the mid-major category.
Alex has six months left to study at the university, but he can play in the team for another two and a half years. This happened because the players have the right to use the redshirt option. In fact, this is the right of the player to extend his career at the university, even if he has already graduated from the university. Plus, there's also the "cancellation" of the season due to the coronavirus (this happened last year), which also doesn't count, as well as the "cancellation" of the season due to injury (this happened to Alex in his second year in the NJCAA).
In general, these rules are very complicated.
- Due to an injury in my second year at the NJCAA, I opted to save the year. That's plus one season. In addition, this year I had a lot of misunderstandings with the coach, it all started last year. I thought that it would be possible to somehow influence this, to establish relations with him in the summer, but it turned out to be much more difficult than I thought. Therefore, after a huge number of meetings, we came to the conclusion that this year it would be easier for me to also take the option to save the year. So this year I’m graduating from the university, getting an education, but I still have, roughly speaking, two seasons to play in the NCAA,” says Kotov.
Lakhin is the only Russian who represents a high-major university. This means that the university where Vitya plays often goes to the "March Madness" and has a tangible chance of winning the NCAA.
And the story of Lakhin began in Anapa. The parents wanted to send their sons - Vitya and his brother Vasya - to some kind of team sport so that they would play together. And chose volleyball. But because of the coach, they did not last long in the volleyball section and eventually went to basketball.
Lahin started in fourth grade but quickly rose to the city team. And in the Krasnodar Territory, if you play for the city team, then you are in full view of the Lokomotiv scouts. Vitya did not play Loko on a permanent basis, but by the 7-8th grade he was regularly on the team to participate in the Russian championships. The Railroaders took him as a reinforcement player - this is a common practice in children's competitions.
Further - a matter of chance. Loko juniors played in the final stage of the Russian championship and met CSKA twice - in the group stage and in the semi-finals. Lakhin gave two good games and ... received an invitation from the "soldiers".
At first he did not think of moving anywhere and stayed to finish the season in the south. But summer came, and he still went to see it. He was offered to stay after the first practice. Vitya talked to his parents and a month later he arrived at CSKA.
- The first season was probably the most emotional, full of some moments, memories. Because my brother and I arrived for the first time in a big city. On the one hand, this is a great freedom, because there are no parents nearby, but, on the other hand, this is also a great responsibility. Because you have never done the things that your parents did for you before, like laundry, cleaning, all sorts of small things. Even a waste of money: you never thought about it before, you were given - you spent it. And here you have money, and you know that if you spend everything, then at the end of the month you won’t have any left, ”recalls Vitya.
Lakhin reached the final stage of the youth Euroleague with CSKA and spent a pretty good season overall. Alexey Zhukov, the head coach of the “army” CYBL, left to work as an assistant in Nizhny Novgorod, and Maxim Sharafan came to CSKA from Lokomotiv. He worked with Vitya for three years, and during this time Lakhin managed to understand that he wants to play in Russia only at the highest level - in CSKA - and if it doesn’t work out, then it’s better to leave.
- I realized that it would be very difficult for me to get into the base. This is a top club with the highest goals, and as a young player I need to be not even the same as everyone else, but better, because I have no experience. It was necessary here and now to show some level and bring results. Let's be realistic, there were no players who can immediately enter the CSKA system and show something like that for a long time. Probably the Swede was the last one. I realized that I can’t do that, and since my dream is to be in the NBA, I decided to move closer to this league, this Wednesday, to America. That's why I'm here, - says Vitya.
But not everything was so simple. Back in Russia, Lakhin managed to get injured. He fell in the game moment, and his knee hurt. The medical staff did not suspect anything, and Vitya continued to train. The state of health worsened, but then the pandemic came, everyone went into self-isolation, and the center just went home. The knee was still swollen, but the pain was slowly receding. Vitya did not train and therefore did not feel any signs of deterioration. He already knew that he was leaving for America, and just waited for all the permits.
The injury happened in February and the departure was due in September. In the summer, Lakhin himself did an MRI, which showed that he had ... a torn meniscus. He took the results of the examination to the surgeon who scheduled the operation. Vitya went for it and began to recover in Russia, and he came to the USA with an already operated knee.
Everything should have been fine, but when he started running, the pain returned. Lakhin did another MRI, and it showed that the same meniscus was completely torn. The doctors said that it would take six months to recover. Therefore, Vitya simply missed his first season in the NCAA.
— All this time I didn't train, but I was always with the team: in scouting, in the locker room, in training. All lessons were online, and we lived in an apartment with the team. So that year helped me a lot, because even though I didn’t play, I was in the system and I knew the guys. It was my year of adaptation - to a new culture, to people, to new faces, to food. I had the same feeling as when I came from a small town to Moscow. You leave Russia for any other country - even to America, even to Italy, even to Spain - and you go through the same thing, Lakhin believes.
He adds that the Cincinnati had a new head coach at the end of last season and it was a difficult moment. A new specialist was appointed the day before Lakhin's departure to Russia, when he did not yet understand whether he would remain in the team for the next season or not. Whether to leave it, decided the new head coach. But in the end, the center managed to meet with him before departure and find a common language. The coach wanted to protect the Russians in the squad.
During the summer Vitya worked in the USA on his body and improved his skills. The season began in October, and in December, Lahin was the best freshman of the week in his conference. By the way, he has a situation similar to Alex: academically, Lahin is a sophomore, but he is considered a rookie in the team.
Andrey Savrasov, Georgia Southern Eagles
2021/22 stats: 14 games, 23.7 minutes average
11.9 points (51.5% two-pointers, 30% three-pointers, 73.1% free throws), 6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.4 block shots, 0.9 steals, 1 loss Andrey's first coach is a well-known Russian specialist Oleg Aktsipetrov.
— I remember that at first I had very different hobbies: football, basketball, taekwondo… But after the first two or three years of training, I realized that basketball is really mine, that I want to do just that. Slowly, I began to play for the sports school of the Admiralteysky district, for the Zenit Junior Junior League, played for the Russian national team U16, U18. We went to different tournaments, and somewhere the scouts saw my game and invited me to the USA, says Savrasov.
Andrey moved to America three years ago - in January 2019of the year. Now he is finishing his third year at the university, in the American education system it is possible to start studying in the middle of the academic year and, accordingly, then graduate also in the middle of the academic year.
Savrasov managed to play for the Texas Tech team, where he spent a year and a half. The first six months he did not play, he spent in redshirt mode - he trained, worked on his body, was with the team, but did not play for it. But the next season already played in the status of a freshman, that is, a freshman.
Andrei didn't get much playing time, but he still wanted to stay at the university. It was a high-major, and Savrasov wanted to prove that he deserved another role.
But then I talked to the head coach, and together they decided that it would be better to change the university in order to continue their career. The coach even helped find a new team, and that's how Savrasov ended up in Georgia, in the Georgia Southern Eagles team. This is a mid-major university.
Now in his second year with the new team, he is in the starting five and generally has a good role on the court. In theory, Andrei can play for the university for another two years, although he graduates from the university in a year.
Vladislav Goldin, Florida Atlantic Owls
2021/22 stats: 14 games, 16.5 minutes average
5.7 points (47.9% 2-pointers, no 3-pointers, 52.2% free throws), 5.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.6 block shots, 0.4 interceptions, 1.3 losses He played with his 2001, but at some point the team just fell apart and disappeared.
Goldin was sent to play by the year 2000, and the coach of this team turned out to be familiar with the coach of CSKA-DYBL. Vlad and another guy were offered to the "soldiers" - just to look at them. But the screening went well, and after one of the training sessions, Vlad was offered to move to Moscow. New school, new surroundings, heavy loads, training twice a day - Vlad says that the first six months in the capital were the most difficult time in his life.
- At that time, I probably did not quite understand where I was moving and how much it changed. To be honest, I didn't even really know what DUBL was. Wasn't very knowledgeable. Youth League, Junior Team, Superleague… I knew the tournaments where we played: first the Southern Federal District, then the Russian Championship. When I found out that I was already in Moscow and had to go to the CYBL team for a tryout, I even got scared. But they left me, and I trained at CSKA for another four years. Then he played for the Russian national team U18 and U19, after which he received an offer to try himself in America. I decided to take a chance and moved there to the Prep school,” says Goldin.
Prep school is short for preparatory school. In essence, this is an opportunity to play basketball in the USA before going to university.
In October 2019, Vlad entered Patnam School in Connecticut. This is a small private school about an hour from Boston. Together with the team, Goldin became the champion of America in the championship among preparatory schools.
After that, Vlad was called to Texas, to the Texas Tech team - to the same team where Andrey Savrasov had played for a year and a half. Goldin saw that this was a big and serious high-major team, saw the conditions for training and accepted their invitation without hesitation.
— In Texas, things are a little different. The way we played there was not like the way I played before, so the first experience was difficult. And then the head coach left us, replacing TexasTech with Texas. Most of the coaching staff left with him, and our team did not quite understand what to do. Only the assistant coach remained with us. And in the end, I decided to move to another team, to Florida, - say Goldin.
Due to the coronavirus, Vlad has the same situation as most student athletes: academically he is a sophomore, but the last sports season did not count, so he is a freshman in the team. Goldin has three years left to study, and he can play four more.
He himself says that his current team plays more European basketball, so he feels great there.
Alexander Glushkov, Appalachian State Mountaineers
2021/22 stats: 7 games, 4. 7 minutes average
2 points (60% 2-pointers, 0% 3-pointers, 33.3% free throws), 1 .1 rebounds, no assists, 0.1 blocks, 0.1 steals, no losses
Born in Vladivostok, Glushkov started playing basketball at the age of 13 when he went to summer camp. I came home and told my father: "I want to play basketball." Parents sent Sasha to the section.
Glushkov's first coach is Eduard Sushko. After a year of working with him, Sasha was invited to the Spartak-Primorye system. He played in the Junior Junior League for a year, after which the entire management of the team and almost the entire squad moved to the PSC Sakhalin. At the same time, the base of the club remained in Vladivostok. Glushkov spent a year in the new club, after which he received an invitation from Moscow, from the IBA. His coach Alexander Antipov invited him.
And then it was a matter of chance, and a year later Sasha was already flying to the USA to study at school.
— I came to Moscow and played there for a year. When we were preparing for the Summer Spartakiad in Krasnaya Pakhra at the Trinta base, a coach from the USA arrived there. He was familiar with Alexander Antipov, because before that our guy had already played at the same school. He came just to relax, but he also wanted to look at the players. He probably liked me, and he invited me to school. I took the chance and got into high school. I spent 11-12 classes there, received several offers and decided that I would play in Appalachian State, says Glushkov.
Now Sasha is in his second year, but as you know, last year doesn't count. So Glushkov is considered a “freshman” in the team and can play for the university for another three and a half years, while he has two and a half to study.
When Sasha arrived at the university, he weighed about 90 kg. But now he has noticeably added muscle mass. He began to grow muscles during the last season, but he did the main work in the summer. Due to problems with visas, he could not go home to Russia, and he went to a friend in Houston. There he lived for a month, ate a lot and rocked. As a result, he entered the new season in excellent physical shape. True, the coach still does not really trust him.
Glushkov University is a mid-major who, last year, entered March Madness for the first time in 20 years. Sasha was not released then, but he nevertheless felt the atmosphere of the main student event of the year. Here's what he says about it:
- It was ... unbelievable (unbelievable - approx. "Interception"). Very cool feeling. 64 top teams, all at the highest level. We had two or three hotels, each floor was dedicated to a specific team. I don’t know how much it could be called the same “March Madness”, because, of course, all the measures were taken anyway. We had a quarantine, we had to be tested every day. And so everything was at the highest level,” recalls Glushkov.
David Didenko, UT Martin Skyhawks
2021/22 stats: 11 games, 17 minutes average
6.2 points (37. 3% two-pointers, 37.8% three-pointers, 33.3% free throws), 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.3 blocks, 0.2 steals, 1.7 turnovers 90,003 90,002 David has probably the most atypical fate among all our guys who now play in the first division of the NCAA.
Didenko was born in the north, in the city of Yakutsk. He remembers his childhood quite vividly: he says that the city authorities allowed not to go to school at -45 degrees Celsius, and if the thermometer was only -43, you had to pull yourself together, stick yourselves into a thick down jacket and stomp to school.
— I had a healthy down jacket, maybe five centimeters. I walked around like a big bubble. When I was 8 or 9 years old, we had -57 degrees in winter. Very cold. I didn’t leave the house for two days,” Didenko recalls.
In 2010, David ended up in the USA even before he started playing basketball. He was 10. His older sister was leaving for New York to study English, and David just went with her for a month.
While still in Russia, they found something for him to do in the USA. On the classifieds website, the family looked at a message from a Russian coach who lived there, his name was Boris Karebin. The coach was needed so that David would not just mess around in the States.
But the boy got so caught up in basketball that he eventually wanted to stay. Parents allowed, and he went to an American school. Karebin trained him in Brighton Beach, this is a Russian-speaking area, so immersion in American culture was gradual.
- I first lived in New York, where I arrived, and then I traveled. Lived in Florida, then studied in Georgia, in Tennessee. I travel a lot around the country - sometimes I live there, sometimes there. Somehow I quickly learned English, apparently because I was still young. Literally in a year. In Russia, I studied English for three classes, but could not learn it. Here I first lived with my sister, she pushed me to talk to people, and somehow everything turned out by itself, - says Didenko.
David spent his first year after school in Juko. Remember the story of Alex Kotov? This is the same league that prepares players who have not yet grown up to the NCAA. But already in the second year, Didenko ended up in the first division, at the University of Georgia.
He is currently a UT Martin Skyhawks player, where UT is the University of Tennessee. Accordingly, David now lives and studies in this state. He has a year and a half left at the university, and he can still play the same amount at the university level.
At the same time, he is 21 years old and automatically enters the NBA draft next year. In mocks - that is, expert predictions - he is not drafted, but he still has to play the whole season, so everything is in his hands.
Last on the list - not by value, but simply because he is the only Russian I could not contact - Pavel Zakharov from California Baptist Lancers.
Zakharov was born in Sør-Varanger, Norway. In Russia, Pasha played for the Zenit youth team and helped CSKA play in the youth Euroleague, and in 2018, after playing for the Russian U18 team at the European Championship, he left for the Montverde Academy. We talked about it a little earlier.
He was considered a four-star recruit. In American sports, when they want to talk about the prospects of a particular player, they talk about him in terms of stars, and four stars is very good. Such an assessment helped him get into the Gonzaga College in the NCAA - this is one of the top programs, which, for example, reached the NCAA finals last season, having suffered its first loss of the season in this very final. Pasha then did not go to the parquet. A year before, the team did not get into the "March Madness" only because the championship was stopped due to a pandemic.
Zakharov spent two seasons at this university and moved to the California Baptist Lancers in the summer of 2021. Most likely due to playing time, because, obviously, it was much more difficult to get it in Gonzaga. But even at the new university, he still has an average of 10 minutes on the floor and one and a half rebounds. By the way, about playing on the shields: the height of the Russian center is 213 centimeters, in America these guys are called seven-footers.
This is almost all I know about Pavel Zakharov.
It seems that the Russians in the first division of the NCAA are over. If you know someone else that I forgot, please write in the comments.
Thank you for your attention! I will be glad if you share the text or video with your friends who are interested in young Russian players. Well, thumbs up, comments, subscriptions to YouTube - everything is traditional.
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Naismith was tasked by his head boss to discover a game that can be played indoors and will help the athlete’s conditioning. They also wanted players to be able to keep in shape during winters. 
After WW2, each international countries started to establish their basketball leagues.
I wonder how happy Dr. Naismith will be if he saw how his game was loved by all people in the world.
There are many courts established all over cities, and you can find a basketball court anywhere you go. Basketball requires only a ring and a ball, and it doesn’t need any special requirements. There are also different types of games you can execute even if you have no basketball ring, and all you have is a basketball. 
People love basketball because it gives us a chance to compete and prove ourselves to others. Playing a sport is more fun if you have to compete with an opponent. You can compete for 1-on-1 or 5-on-5 anywhere as long as there is a basketball court. 
Knowing that each NBA team has 15 players. If you add it up or times it into 30 teams, the answer will be 450 players (not including the free agents). 80 percent of 450 is the number of American citizen players. 
Canada has 49 players, while European countries such as France, Serbia, and Croatia have a total of 86 players. 
Even though his basketball career did not last long, Biasatti is still considered the first international player to play in the NBA. 
People young and old take up playing basketball because its fun, challenging and you get a great workout without even realizing it. You don’t need any special equipment or a certain amount of players to get a game going. There are so many games you can play and even create. From 1 on 1 to five on five there’s always a game ready to be played. You can even go to a hoop and play by yourself. Yeah, I know maybe not as much fun as with some friends but try creating some games on your own if there’s no one to play with. Need some ideas click here for basketball games you can play on your own.
For every hour of play, you can burn anywhere from 200 to 800 calories depending on how hard you work your body. It’s an excellent way to meet new people when you are on a basketball team with four other players. I can’t tell you how many people I met through the game of basketball.
As kids, we would replicate his moves whether it be dunks, fadeaways, or impossible layups, that was the fun of it. We would have games where I was Jordan and my friend was Charles Barkley and vice versa. Usually, you would do the moves that the player you were mimicking was known for.
That is remarkable in which at a time most of the NBA thought scouts were wasting their time overseas or across the border searching for International talent. This is just not the case anymore. Click here for the list of International Players that play in the N.B.A. and you will be taken to the N.B.A. website.
Scouts are constantly looking for the next Greek freak and they will go far and wide to find him. Are you him?
38 million people 10 different provinces cheering for the Raptors, now if this was hockey it’s a completely different story. I could imagine that if you had one European team it would be the same as many of the other countries would cheer their European friends on.
You can check out this documentary on Netflix called “One In A Billion”. The issue with the academy that he was in is they don’t always have the best coaches and we are talking about coaches that have coached at a high level. A Coach that knows what it takes to get to the pros. While also playing someone his own height to gain that experience.
an average of about 600 thousand viewers. And that's not counting those spectators to whom basketball comes home thanks to television. How to explain such popularity of basketball in the USA? 
The rules by which football and hockey are played, not to mention volleyball or tennis, are quite simple. I understand that some football or hockey patriot, offended (although there is nothing to be offended: the simplicity of the rules, their accessibility is a huge advantage), can come up with questions that I personally would not be able to answer. But I'm not talking about the theoretical side of things, but about the practical. Let's say a person who is very far from sports decided to fill the gap in his education and went to football, hockey and basketball first. He will comprehend the wisdom of football pretty quickly. It will be more difficult for him at a hockey match, but, in the end, he will understand what's what here. In basketball, he will have a bad time without outside help. 
“Why did the ball hit the basket, but they didn’t add two points?”, “Why do they add two points? The ball didn't hit the basket...' It would be explained to him that in the first case the cylinder rule was violated by the player of the attacking team, and in the second by the defending team. He would have asked what the cylinder rule is. He would not have had time to finish the explanation, as he would immediately ask: “Why are free throws hit for this personal mistake, but they didn’t hit for exactly the same two minutes ago?” They would explain to him that then it was the 36th minute of the match, and now it is the 38th, and, therefore, the last three minutes rule is already in effect. I wouldn't want to be his neighbor... 
.. I'm not at all sure that I have listed all the changes that have taken place over the years ... 
How are they? - The Interception - Blogs 
In this text, I will talk about all the Russians who play in the first division of the main student league in the world. If last season I wanted to explain why exactly they are leaving, now I have focused on their career. 
It includes almost 1300 schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions. The teams of these universities are represented not only in basketball - the NCAA also has competitions in American football, wrestling, fencing, bowling, softball, gymnastics, tennis and God knows what else. 
He joined the Charleston Cougars - the name of the team of the University of Charleston from South Carolina - in early December last year. 
Nikita was born there. 
True, Evdokimov says that, even while playing for Krasnodar, he often thought that he actually wanted to try his hand at American basketball. He has relatives living in the USA, he has been there more than once, and when the chance to move to the university appeared, he did not hesitate for a long time. 
9 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.1 blocks, 0.2 steals, 0.8 losses 
I contacted Skryagin (Alexander Skryagin, ProFuturo Sports, - note "Interception"), because he was the only person who knows more about moving to the USA than me. We talked to him, I dropped my highlights to him, and he helped me find a school, - says Kotov. 
This is also a representative university of the mid-major category. 
Therefore, after a huge number of meetings, we came to the conclusion that this year it would be easier for me to also take the option to save the year. So this year I’m graduating from the university, getting an education, but I still have, roughly speaking, two seasons to play in the NCAA,” says Kotov. 
Because my brother and I arrived for the first time in a big city. On the one hand, this is a great freedom, because there are no parents nearby, but, on the other hand, this is also a great responsibility. Because you have never done the things that your parents did for you before, like laundry, cleaning, all sorts of small things. Even a waste of money: you never thought about it before, you were given - you spent it. And here you have money, and you know that if you spend everything, then at the end of the month you won’t have any left, ”recalls Vitya. 
Vitya did not train and therefore did not feel any signs of deterioration. He already knew that he was leaving for America, and just waited for all the permits. 
It was my year of adaptation - to a new culture, to people, to new faces, to food. I had the same feeling as when I came from a small town to Moscow. You leave Russia for any other country - even to America, even to Italy, even to Spain - and you go through the same thing, Lakhin believes. 
Youth League, Junior Team, Superleague… I knew the tournaments where we played: first the Southern Federal District, then the Russian Championship. When I found out that I was already in Moscow and had to go to the CYBL team for a tryout, I even got scared. But they left me, and I trained at CSKA for another four years. Then he played for the Russian national team U18 and U19, after which he received an offer to try himself in America. I decided to take a chance and moved there to the Prep school,” says Goldin. 
Goldin saw that this was a big and serious high-major team, saw the conditions for training and accepted their invitation without hesitation. 
7 minutes average 
When we were preparing for the Summer Spartakiad in Krasnaya Pakhra at the Trinta base, a coach from the USA arrived there. He was familiar with Alexander Antipov, because before that our guy had already played at the same school. He came just to relax, but he also wanted to look at the players. He probably liked me, and he invited me to school. I took the chance and got into high school. I spent 11-12 classes there, received several offers and decided that I would play in Appalachian State, says Glushkov. 
There he lived for a month, ate a lot and rocked. As a result, he entered the new season in excellent physical shape. True, the coach still does not really trust him. 
3% two-pointers, 37.8% three-pointers, 33.3% free throws), 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.3 blocks, 0.2 steals, 1.7 turnovers 90,003 90,002 David has probably the most atypical fate among all our guys who now play in the first division of the NCAA. 
On the classifieds website, the family looked at a message from a Russian coach who lived there, his name was Boris Karebin. The coach was needed so that David would not just mess around in the States. 
Remember the story of Alex Kotov? This is the same league that prepares players who have not yet grown up to the NCAA. But already in the second year, Didenko ended up in the first division, at the University of Georgia. 
Most likely due to playing time, because, obviously, it was much more difficult to get it in Gonzaga. But even at the new university, he still has an average of 10 minutes on the floor and one and a half rebounds. By the way, about playing on the shields: the height of the Russian center is 213 centimeters, in America these guys are called seven-footers. 
