THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2008
NEWS
5A
Ecooter Barry, former Kansas guard, poses with his wife, Kersten, son, Grant, and daughter, Lauren. Barry met his wife after moving to Germany to play basketball.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Scooter Barry plays in the French league All-Star game in Paris in 2003. While most players give up basketball in their mid-30s, Barry played until he was 39. "I just loved the game so much," he said. "I'm a junkie."
"We looked at each other and said, 'Playing basketball is not the thing anymore.' Barry said. It was "time to be a husband and a dad and look for a real job," Barry said.
These days, Barry wakes up in his small house in rural northern Germany, 15 miles outside of Braunschweig. He walks his daughter 500 yards to her kindergarten classroom, and plans his family's move to the United States. He's lined up a marketing job with a fitness club in San Ramon, Calif. The only holdup is regaining his American passport, which he had to give up when he acquired a German passport a few years ago.
His basketball life is over, although Barry still admits even at age 41 "...if my knees and my legs would continue to run and jump I would probably still be playing." Unlike his father and three brothers, Barry never made it to the NBA, but he's happy his life worked out the way it did. "I wouldn't have met my wife, and I wouldn't have had my family if I didn't come over to Europe and play," Barry said.
* * * *
He was a highly touted McDonald's All-American at Jefferson High School in 2001, and pegged by then-Kansas coach Roy Williams to start at point guard as a freshman
Growing up in Portland, Ore. the long odds of the NBA didn't seem so long for Aaron Miles.
"You're one of the top players coming out of high school; you get recruited by a school like Kansas, everyone knows who you are," Miles said.
After Miles helped lead Kansas to back-to-back Final
Golden State Warriors, but played just 19 games, averaging six minutes per game. In January 2006, Miles was released and the former Kansas star soon found himself playing for the D-League's Fort Worth Flyers.
"You go from staying in the Trump Towers with a room by yourself, and then you go to the D-League and you're in a Holiday Inn with a roommate," Miles said.
But when Miles left Kansas in 2005 as the school's all-time assists leader, he got a harsh dose of NBA reality. After going undrafted in the 2005 NBA Draft, Miles made the
Injuries ruined Miles' chance for an NBA contract in his second professional season. Three weeks before Miles was to head to training camp with the Portland Trailblazers, he suffered a foot
Fours in 2002 and 2003, the NBA seemed like the next logical step.
"The 17 years I played basketball is life experience,but it makes for a pretty funny resume when you go and apply for a job."
SCOOTER BARRY
Former Kansas guard
pay and hassles involved with the D-League, Miles signed with the French club, Elan Bearnais Pau-Orthez in 2006. This season Miles is in Seville, Spain, playing for Cajasol Balconesco Sevilla in the ACB Spain's top league. It's a far cry from the low-budget NBDL. Players in the ACB can make an upward of $1 million per year, while most earn at least six figures
injury during a workout. Miles said the injury was difficult to treat. "especially not being at Kansas, or a place where you get good physical therapy."
Unable to stick on an NBA roster, and frustrated with the low
"The people here are nice," Miles said. "The weather is beautiful."
Miles lives in an plush apartment with his girlfriend, and he's just blocks from his team's gym. They eat at T.G.I.Friday's in his neighborhood when they tire of Seville's Tapas bars.
He's playing 20 minutes per game this season, battling against some of the top players in Europe. With his team out of the playoff picture at 12-19, Miles' Spanish season ends May 9. He'll have to make another decision this summer: stay in Europe and make a six-figure salary or pursue his NBA dream.
Miles said he still aspires to play in the NBA, but European basketball is becoming more appealing.
"A couple players over here don't even care about the NBA anymore," Miles said. "They're making a good living over here. For them it's all about making a good living and setting themselves up for the future."
* * *
While Miles spent the first year of his post-Kansas career chasing his NBA dream, his childhood best friend, Michael Lee, a Kansas guard from 2001-05, sat idle, waiting for the phone to ring.
One month went by, two months, then three months. He had played at Kansas, graduated and built a network of contacts, but nothing materialized.
After a short stint with the Harlem Globetrotters, Lee visited Miles in France. Another friend in France hooked him up with a tryout with the club Entente Orleans. Lee signed a medical contract with the team, meaning if another player was injured, Lee could fill in.
"I was like," Dang, what do I do? Do I have to go get a job right now?" Lee said.
Hed never thought of simple obstacles such as the language barrier.
"Over in Europe, I was really struggling," Lee said.
"The first day they gave me my car, I got two speeding tickets and my car got towed," Lee said.
After suffering a shoulder injury last season, Lee returned to Kansas.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
former KU athletes
**Aaron Miles plays for Cajasol Baloncesto Sevilla. Miles' Spanish season comes to an end May 9. He has to make a decision this summer to stay in Europe and make a six-figure salary or pursue his NBA dream.**
"I wouldn't go to the laundromat because I didn't know how to use any of it in there, so I would wash my clothes in the shower, and hang it up around my room."
After nearly three months in France, Lee returned home and played shortly for the Vancouver Volcanoes of the International Basketball League and the Kansas Cagerz of the now-defunct United States Basketball League.
Ryan Robertson — Robertson, who played guard at Kansas from 1995-99, played one game for the NBA's Sacramento Kings in 2000. After a short stint with the ABA's Kansas City Knights, he played five seasons in Europe for Eiffel Towers Nijmegen and Panellinois Athens. He is now retired and works for the Hartford in the St. Louis area.
Nick Bradford — Bradford, who played at Kansas from 1996-2000, is playing this season in France in the Pro B Division for Reims, averaging 18.9 points per game.
Ashante Johnson — Johnson, who played at Kansas from 1998-2000, played in Israel this season for Nahariya.
Kenny Gregory — Gregory, who played this season for Kansas from 1997-2001, is in Turkey this season playing for Efas Pilsen in Instabul.
"You go from staying in the Trump Towers with a room by yourself, and then you go to the D-League and you're in a Holiday Inn with a roommate."
Eric Chenowith — Chenowith, who played at Kansas from 1997-2001, has played in France, China, Puerto Rico, the ABA, the CBA and the NBDL since leaving Lawrence. He has had contracts with six NBA
teams, but he has never appeared in an official NBA game. He finished this season for the NBDL's Idaho Stampede.
Bryant Nash — Nash, who played for Kansas from 2000-04, is in Germany. this season playing for Heidelberg, after a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters.
enrolled in graduate school and was a graduate assistant for the Kansas basketball team during the 2007-08 season.
Keith Langford — Langford, who played at Kansas from 2001-05, had short stints with the NBDL's Austin Toros and the NBA's San Antonio Spurs during 2008. He is now playing for Angelico in Italy.
AARON MILES
Former Kansas guard
Injuries were just part of decision, Lee said. For now,he's focusing on finishing his graduate coursework and pursuing a coaching career.
"Basketball at the professional level, it's
a hell of a sacrifice. I wasn't willing to make that sacrifice." Lee said.
Billy Thomas' NBDL season ended April 15 in a playoff loss against the Los Angeles D-Fenders. He had planned to come home to his newlywed wife and their new home in Overland Park.
If his NBA window was closed,
Thomas said he was thinking about
Europe for next season. "It's about
setting myself up for the future" Thomas said.
But a day after Thomas walked off the court in Los Angeles, his phone rang again. This time Cleveland needed a guard. Thomas was added to the roster for the playoffs and made a three-pointer off the bench in game two of Cleveland's first-round series against Washington.
Thomas isn't guaranteed to be in Cleveland next season. In basketball, nothing is guaranteed. But for now, Thomas is back in the NBA, back playing alongside one of the best players in the world, LeBron James, fulfilling his dream.
Thomas said he plans on playing three more years, and hopes to get into coaching after that.
The basketball life is all Thomas knows.
"Deep down, you have to love what you do." Thomas said. "love the fact that you're fortunate enough to play basketball for a living."
Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird
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