ProA

Evan McGaughey (MLP Academics) A Strenghth Of Mine Is To Keep The Team Moral In A Positive Direction

Evan McGaughey is a 23 year old 203cm forward from Carthage, Illinois that will be starting his professional basketball career in Germany with the MLP Academics Heielberg. The American played an illustrious career at Quincy(NCAA”) where he averaged double figures in scoring average each season. As a senior he played 25 games averaging 16.6ppg, 8.3rpg, 2.0apg, 1.2spg, 1.4bpg, FGP: 58.2%, 3PT: 50.6%, FT: 77.8%. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball.

Thanks Evan for talking to German Hoops Where are you at the moment and how is your summer coming along?

Currently at the golf course right now. I usually go golfing with my dad on Sunday mornings. Getting in a few more rounds before I leave.

I have to commend you about your name Evan. It´s a great name and I should know since I just named my first son like that a few months ago. When you think of the name Evan what comes to mind first?

I usually think of taller people when Evan comes to mind. It’s weird, but the few Evan’s I know seem to be taller.

Congrats on signing with German pro A team MLP Academics Heidelberg. If someone had told you coming from West High School 5 years ago that you would be a professional basketball player in 2017 what would you have thought?

I honestly wouldn’t have believed them. Coming from Illini West High School with less than 400 kids in the school, not many of them become a professional athlete. I’m excited that it actually happened though!

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Jesse Morgan(RheinStars) I Had A Chip On My Shoulder As A Rookie And Still Do Now

Jesse Morgan is a 26 year old 196cm forward from Philadelphia that will be playing his second professional season in Germany with the RheinStars. Last season as a rookie he played for AB Contern (Luxembourg-Total League) playing 26 games: Score-2(27.2ppg), 5.6rpg, 2.7apg, Steals-5(2.1spg), FGP: 48.7%, 3PT: 36.1%, FT: 83.9%. He started his basketball career in 2010 with Massachusetts (NCAA) where he played for three seasons amassing 59 NCAA games. He transferred to Temple (NCAA) and as a senior played 27 games averaging 11.9ppg, 3.4rpg, 1.3apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 33.9%, 3PT: 35.4%, FT: 81.6%. He spoke to German Hoops about Basketball.

Congrats Jeese on signing with German Pro A team RheinStars Cologne. Have you invited Tony, TJ and Max DiLeo for dinner yet in thanks for giving CEO Stephan Baeck the headsup on your game?

Lol nah I haven’t got chance to do that yet.

You have made the next step coming from the lower league in Luxemburg to the very strong and competitive German pro A. Was it just the advice that family DiLeo gave you that made you take this offer or were there other factors that helped you make this decision?

I feel like the DiLeo family had a huge influence on my decision, but always being in Luxemburg last year I got a chance to visit Germany regularly and I fell in love. I wouldn’t want to be any other place in the world.

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Buay Tuach (Phoenix Hagen) Life In General And The Struggles I’ve Been Through Helped Me Mature As A Player

Buay Tuach is a 22 year old 198cm forward from Ethiopia that will be starting his professional basketball career in Germany with Phoenix Hagen. He started his career with Northeast CC (JUCO) and then moved to Loyola Mary (NCAA) in 2015 and as a junior played 26 games averaging 3.7ppg, 1.6rpg. As a senior he played 28 games averaging 11.5ppg, 4.0rpg, 2.3apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 58.9%, 3PT: 40.0%, FT: 57.0%. He spoke to German Hoops about basketball.

Thanks Buay for talking to German Hoops Where are you at the moment and how is your summer going?

At the moment I am in Los Angeles California and my summer is going well

Your last NCAA game was March 4th and you haven´t played a competitive game in many months. What have you missed most in this time?

In the time of the competitiveness I just miss the games, road trips and team.

Congrats on signing with German Pro A team Phoenix Hagen. After 2 strong seasons at Northeast CC and then a first NCAA season where you hardly played, did you think you could one day become a professional player?

I’ve always had a dream of becoming a professional athlete and I always knew that I would become one someday and the day has come.

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Justin Alston (Romerstrom Gladiators) My Workout With The Boston Celtics Was Unreal

Justin Alston is a 22 year old 203cm forward from Maryland that will start his professional basketball career in Germany with the Romerstrom Gladiators. He recently completed his career at Boston University(NCAA) where he played from 2012-2017 amassing a total of 114 games and as a senior played 31 games averaging 12.0ppg, 6.0rpg, FGP: 57.1%, FT: 74.7%. He spoke to German Hoops about Basketball.

Justin thanks for talking to German Hoops. Where are you at the moment and how is your summer going?

My summer is going great, I have been training everyday and just trying to prepare myself for the next Level.

Congrats on signing with German team Romerstrom Gladiators. You signed very early into the summer. What was the deciding factor that chose you to choose this Team?

Thank you, and a few deciding factors where the love and support from my family and agent. They were both very influential in my decision. Also by signing early in the summer it gives me a chance to be stress free about where I will be playing.

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Tyson Hinz (MBC) I Had Much More A Different Role Than Less Of A Role

Tyson Hinz is a 25 year old 20cm forward from Ottawa, Canada that completed his third professional season and first in Germany with the Mitteldeutscher BC helping them win the Pro A title averaging 8,4ppg, 3,9rpg and 1,6apg. He played the last two seasons with Landstede Basketbal Zwolle (Holland-Eredivisie) playing a total of 73 games and last season played 35 games averaging 13.3ppg, 7.5rpg, 1.8apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 49.5%, 3PT: 34.2%, FT: 76.6%. He started his basketball career at Carleton University (CIS) in 2009 and played there until 2014 playing a total of 123 CIS games and as a senior played 27 games averaging 15.4ppg, 6.1rpg, 2.7apg, FGP: 61.1%, 3PT: 42.4%, FT: 76.1%. There he won four CIS titles and three OUA titles. He spoke to German Hoops after the very successful 2016-2017 Pro A season.

Tyson congrats on an amazing season and winning the German Pro A with MBC. What kind of feeling was it winning your first professional title?

It was an amazing feeling. With how the Pro A works we had our first celebration when we qualified for promotion, which was fantastic but we all knew there was still something left to accomplish. I am glad the team was able to get the final two wins and finish the season knowing we accomplished our goal from the start.

You won 7 titles at Carleton and know what it likes to win titles. MBC was the favorite to win the Pro A title. Can a guy like you really even get emotional after a title like this compared to a guy like German Sergio Kerusch who won his second title after winning his first 8 years ago with the Sun Belt Tournament with W.Kentucky (NCAA).

Every championship is special, it doesn’t matter how many you have won. Every year is unique as you are with a different group of guys or a different club entirely. To celebrate the accomplishment as a team and to see the excitement on your teammates feelings who you’ve battled with all year is a wonderful feeling. Being the favourite to win put a target on our backs all year as everyone wanted to take us down but I thought we handled that as a team.

MBC had the number of Gotha this season going 4-0. I always felt Gotha had a well rounded roster, but was MBC just better from top to bottom?

Gotha had an incredible season. They ran into countless challenges with roster and coaching changes and managed to play their best basketball in the end. They unfortunately ran into some injury problems for the finals but their team as a whole still battled and fought hard which was admirable.

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Elijah Allen (I Think I Had About 5 Heart Attacks In The Chemnitz Series)

Elijah Allen is a 26 year old 195cm swing man from Columbus, Ohio that completed his first season with Gotha in the Pro A averaging 5,7ppg, 2,0rpg and shot 42,3% from outside. He is one of the few guys that has gone from the German Regionaliga to the BBL He played the last two seasons for Lich and last season played 27 games averaging 13.0ppg, 5.0rpg, 1.9apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 49.5%, 3PT: 36.2%, FT: 69.3%. He started his basketball career at NW Missouri St. (NCAA2) in 2007 where he played until 2011 playing a total of 103 NCAA games and as a senior played 26 games: 14.9ppg, 6.5rpg, 1.1apg, FG: 44.8%, 3Pts: 23.1%, FT: 74.8%. He came to Germany in 2012 and played his first two seasons for the VfB 1900 Giessen Pointers (Germany-Regionalliga) and in the 2013-2014 season played 26 games averaging 20.0ppg, 6.4rpg, 1.3apg, 1.4spg, FGP: 58.7%, 3PT: 30.7%, FT: 68.4%. In the 2014-2015 season for the Licher Basket Baeren he played 28 games: 10.4ppg, 4.1rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 54.9%, 3PT: 20.0%, FT: 72.2% He spoke to German Hoops after helping Gotha reach the BBL.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Elijah Allen after a Lich loss in Frankfurt against the Fraport Skyliners Juniors in 2015

Elijah congrats on an amazing season with Gotha. You helped Gotha move up to the BBL, but lost the Pro A title to 2004 Fiba Europe cup winner MBC. Is the fact that the club reached the BBL a small consolation for not winning the Pro A title?

Thanks a lot Miles. Having the opportunity to play for the Oettinger Rockets this season was a true blessing. The main goal for the club was to make it to the BBL and we achieved that so I think the club can be very happy with the outcome.

MBC had the number of Gotha this season going 4-0. I always felt Gotha had a well rounded roster, but was MBC just better from top to bottom?

MBC was the best team in Pro A for a reason. They brought it every night. Hats off to MBC for the season they had.

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Brandon Spearman (I Took A Big Stride This Year With Leadership Being Disciplined And Reading The Game Better)

Brandon Spearman is a 24 year old 190cm guard that completed his third professional season and second with the Romerstrom Gladiators Trier averaging 15,8ppg, 3,6rpg and 1,6apg. He started his basketball career in 2010 for Dayton(NCAA) where he played 36 NCAA games. He then moved to Indian Hills CC (JUCO) and finished his last two seasons at Hawaii (NCAA) and as a senior played 26 games averaging 11.2ppg, 4.4rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 57.8%, 3PT: 33.0%, FT: 52.8%. Last season with the Gladiators Trier (Germany-ProA) he played 37 games: 12.4ppg, 3.5rpg, 1.5apg, FGP: 41.6%, 3PT: 30.1%, FT: 61.7%. He spoke to German Hoops at the conclusion of the season before it was announced he wouldn´t be returning to Trier.

Brandon thanks for talking to German Hoops Where are you at the moment and have you digested the 5 game season ending series loss to BV Chemnitz yet?

Hey Miles, right now I’m on my way back to USA. The series with Chemnitz was very intense, I feel the series could of went either way for both sides. Congrats to Chemnitz!

It was a very hard fought 5 game series. Do you feel like game three was the turning point? Had you won that game, you most likely would have sailed into the Pro A semi-finals?

Every game was important to us and every game we fought hard. We were just a couple plays away from winning in games 3 & 5.

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Seth Hinrichs (With More Experience Comes Better Understanding Of Different Offensive And Defensive Strategies)

Seth Hinrichs is a 24 year old 203cm guard from Clara City, Minnesota that completed his second professional season in the German Pro A with the Kirchheim Knights averaging 11,6ppg, 6,1rpg and 2,7apg. Last season as a rookie he played for FC Porto (Portugal-LPB): 20 games: 8.7ppg, 5.0rpg, 1.2apg, FGP: 55.0%, 3PT: 20.7%, FT: 79.1%; FIBA Europe Cup: 6 games: 6.7ppg, 3.2rpg, FGP: 64.7%, 3PT: 14.3%, FT: 83.3%. He played at Lafayette (NCAA) from 2011-2015 graduating from Lafayette as the all-time leader in 3PG % in Patriot League history. As a senior he played 32 games averaging 12.9ppg, 5.8rpg, 2.6apg, FGP: 55.5%, 3PT: 38.3%, FT: 83.1%. He spoke to German Hoops at the conclusion of the season.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Seth Hinrichs, Nick Washburn and Brad Tinsely of FC Porto after a Fiba Europe Cup game in 2015 in Frankfurt against the Fraport Skyliners

Seth thanks for talking to German Hoops. 2004 Fiba Europe Cup winner MBC swept the Kirchheim Knights. How big is the disappointment and how long will it take to digest it?

It’s definitely disappointing. Every year I want to be playing for a championship and we came up short this year. It’ll take some time before it really sinks in.

MBC swept Kirchheim in the regular season and won the playoff series averaging winning by 22 points per game and averaged 94 points per game. Was MBC simply too good for Kirchheim this season?

MBC was solid from top to bottom and they executed their plan on offense and defense so well. Every weakness we had was exposed so give them credit they’re a great team.

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Alex Foster (When I Got To Germany My Opponents Would Try To Attack Me On Defense Now I’m Able To Disrupt Their Offense)

Alex Foster is a 24 year old 203cm forward that grew up in Portland, Oregon and also has the German citizenship and completed his second professional season with the RheinStars(Germany-ProA) averaging 9,3ppg, and 3,5rpg. Last season as a rookie with the RheinStars he played 29 games averaging 9.6ppg, 3.3rpg, 1.4apg, FGP: 41.3%, 3PT: 33.5%, FT: 78.4%He played at Emory (NCAA3) from 2011-2015 playing a total of 108 NCAA3 games and as a senior played 20.1ppg, 7.9rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 44.6%, 3PT: 39.9%, FT: 79.8%. He was able to improve his scoring and rebounding average each season. He spoke to German Hoops after his second professional season.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber interviewing Alex Foster of the RheinStars after a 2016-2017 pre season game against the Fraport Skyliners in support of Basketball Aid at the Clay Kaserne gym on the Wiesbaden Airbase.

Alex thanks for talking to German Hoops. Your season has unfortunately ended to the hands of 2004 Fiba Europe Cup winner MBC. I doubt anyone was expecting miracles, but how disappointing was getting swept?

It was pretty embarrassing to be honest. Everyone in the Rheinstars organization expected us to compete with MBC and we thought we could beat them. However, they played really well and we didn’t.

In German one says “Da war nichts zu holen in diese Saison gegen MBC”. The RheinStars won only one game against MBC this season and lost the playoff series averaging giving up 20 points per game. Was MBC just flat out a more talented team and deeper that had your number all season long?

We beat them by 15 at home, so there’s proof they were beatable, but you have to put 40 minutes of really good basketball together to do that. They’ve got talent and they play well together. That makes them really hard to beat.

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Marqueze Coleman: My Rookie Year Will Not Only Make Me A Stronger Professional Basketball Player But A Stronger Individual

Marqueze Coleman is a 23 year old 193cm guard from Mission Hills, California that completed his rookie season in Germany with the Dresden Titans (Germany-ProA) averaging 8,7ppg, 4,7rpg and 2,3apg. He played at Nevada (NCAA) from 2012-2016 playing a total of 120 NCAA games and as a senior played 33 games averaging 14.6ppg, 4.2rpg, 3.2apg, 1.2spg, FGP: 44.4%, 3PT: 30.9%, FT: 74.3%. He spoke to German Hoops after finishing his rookie season in Germany.

Marqueze thanks for talking to German HoopsI don´t want to start of an interview like this, but on one hand you can be very thankful of having landed 2 jobs here with Wurzburg and Dresden, but at the same time it hasn´t been the easiest rookie season after leaving Wurzburg, you were 0-7 with new team Dresden. Did you ever think your rookie season could go like this as you got off the plane last summer in Germany to play for Wurzburg?

Yeah I’m very thankful to have two great opportunities to play in Germany, it is such a great country to play in. Although it hasn’t been the ideal rookie season for me, I’m using it as a learning tool for myself and another obstacle for me to overcome. The experiences I’ve experienced my rookie year will not only make me a stronger professional basketball player throughout my career but a stronger individual aside from basketball.

Your rookie season has finally ended. You played 7 games for the Dresden Titans averaging 8,7ppg, 4,7rpg and 2,3apg. How would you summarize your short stay with this German team?

I definitely feel I could have done better with the Dresden Titans but with the circumstance given I thought I competed hard each game.

What did you learn from your rookie season that will help you in your continued path as a professional?

The style of play is one thing that will help me as I continue my professional playing career. There’s a lot of new things about the way the game is played in Europe that I will continue to use and get better at.

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