ABILENE, Texas - McMurry University's
Jonathan Walker and
Jeremie Hart didn't play together on the basketball court in college. However, both players have been teaming up this summer in Guayaquil, Ecuador on the “Association Deportment Naval” (ADN) squad.
Both players were each named the American Southwest Conference West Division Newcomers of the Year in their one and only seasons with McMurry. Walker led the ASC in scoring for the 2008-09 season at 20.7 per contest and was also a member of the all-division all-conference team.
Hart, was second in the ASC in both scoring and rebounding at 20.6 and 8.3 respectively. He too was an all-division all-ASC selection and went on to earn third-team all-region honors from D3hoops.com.
Former head coach and current athletics director Ron Holmes and current head coach Matt Garnett helped both athletes hook up with the Ecuadorian team.
The ADN squad plays under the rules and regulations of the Federation Internationale de Basketball Amateur (FIBA) rules and the team is preparing for its annual eight-team tournament called the “Campeonato Oficial Senior Basketbal Interclubes.”
In the mean time, Walker and Hart arrived in Ecuador May 17 and the team has played two exhibition games with two to spare before the tournament begins June 25. Though both players are playing well, each has said it has been an adjustment to playing in the United States.
“The rules are a little bit different in FIBA,” said Hart. “We are playing with a different type of basketball, the euro basketball. And sometimes I feel like the American players don't get the same type of treatment from the referees that the local players get. We're also having to adjust to our teammates and not speaking the same language.”
ADN's coach Marlo Domingos does speak English, so both players are able to take instruction from their coach, and both said they are enjoying their time.
“I like playing in the different types of gyms down here,” Walker said. “It's a lot different than American gyms. I also have enjoyed playing on the professional level, but it has been much different than what I'm used to.”
Wednesday night, the ADN upset LaSalle, another local team from Guayaquil that won the upcoming tournament in 2009. Walker and Hart combined for 57 of the ADN's 70 points and won by three points. Hart, who is running the point guard position, scored 25 points, dished out 11 assists and grabbed seven rebounds while Walker scored 32 points and had six rebounds.
The tournament features a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals and semi-finals round with the championship series going to a best of five. While there is pride on the line for the AND and the naval base Commander Luis Rojas, both McMurry exes have overseas professional contracts in their sights.
“There is a league here in South America, but [Jonathan] or I could end up anywhere in one of the Euro leagues,” Hart said. “The teams we will be playing against are professional teams that play in leagues, so we could get picked up, and we expect that there will be league and team representatives from leagues at the tournament.”
The ADN is considered a professional team, however, due to the majority of the players' military responsibilities, the team does not play in the yearly national tournament in the “ECU” division of FIBA. The FIBA is also the governing body that regulates the rules of international play during the Goodwill games and the Olympics.
