How Playing Older Competition Helps Growth – With Devon Van Oostrum – Ep. 26

By Sam Neter on December 22, 2016

Mansoor Ahmed/Ahmedphotos

Great Britain and Koroivos guard Devon Van Oostrum took the time to sit down with us for Episode 26 of the Hoopsfix Podcast.

The 1993 born point guard has been one of Great Britain’s brightest talents in the time Hoopsfix has existed, and also one of the most exciting players to watch with mixtapes amassing tens of thousands of views. Having left England at 15/16 years old to sign a multi-year contract with Euroleague side Baskonia in Spain, Devon has amassed a wealth of experience in the European pro game, along with representing National Teams almost every summer since the same age.

In this episode, hear from ‘DVO’ on:

What made him first start playing basketball growing up in Sheffield
How always playing older competition growing up aided his development
Where his competitive fire and mentality comes from
Why National Schools competitions are some of his happiest basketball memories
What made him choose the European route instead of the US
How difficult it was to move to a new country so young and not knowing the language
Why, at the time, he second guessed his decision to move to Spain
His first call up the Great Britain Senior Men’s team at just 17 years old
Becoming the second youngest player to play at Eurobasket in 2011
The stacked 1991 born generation U20 squad he played on that finished a disappointing 13th
The difficulty of being cut from the Great Britain team prior to the London 2012 Olympics
His mentality going into the summer of 2013 that saw him pick up Div B Euros MVP, leading the U20s to promotion and representing the Seniors at Eurobasket
His different experiences of being on loan with various LEB Oro teams, along with short stints in Croatia and Finland
How he almost thought about quitting the game at the end of 2014
His one game stint in the BBL with Leeds Force
His relationship with former GB U20 coach Dave Smart and why he likes coaches who are direct and honest
Great Britain’s disastrous Eurobasket 2015 qualifying campaign in 2014, losing to Iceland
Why he feels last season with Arkadikos was almost like his first year as a pro, with a big role on a team
Why he chose not to play for GB this summer
His thoughts on potentially suiting up at Eurobasket 2017
And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

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