March 19th, 2016 | Uncategorized
Next week will be the first time since high school that I will be able to have Spring Break. My past four years of college basketball was like a full time job. We had mandatory off-season workouts in the spring, summer, and fall and then obviously during the season basketball took up all of our time. I never had a Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, or Spring break because we always had games, practices, and tournaments. This year I am looking forward to Spring Break because it’s another chance for me to travel and see more of Europe.
Next week I will be going to go to Belgium to visit my NC State teammate. He is actually from Belgium and now plays professional basketball there in Leuven. He (Thomas) was in my recruiting class at NC State and we were roommates our freshmen year. At NC State, it was his first time being in America and I now know through the Victory Scholar program what it was like for him to live in a foreign country. I was able to show him around and help him with anything he needed. We grew a strong friendship and would do everything together. Wherever I went, he went.
I am excited that now I will be able to see his home country and see his background. The timing works out perfectly that I will be able to watch one of his games while I am visiting him too. I am thankful that basketball has allowed me to form friendships all over the world and has led me to Ireland where I can easily travel to parts of Europe to visit friends like this.
Victory Scholar: Staats Battle
Present University: University of Limerick
US League: ACC
Club/Community Partner: UL Eagles
Alma Mater: North Carolina State University
Sponsored by: Teamwear Ireland
