By David Driver, Special to SJUHawks.com
After ending his basketball career at Saint Joseph's in 2008, Rob Ferguson had a tryout with the Philadelphia 76ers. “The workout went good and they called me back again,” reflect Ferguson, a 6-foot-8 inside presence.
Ferguson was optimistic about a second tryout with the NBA team. “I spoke to the GM and the coach and they liked my shooting ability but suggested I go overseas,” recalls Ferguson, who had averaged 11.9 points and 4.8 rebounds to help the Hawks earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament his senior year.
While disappointed that his NBA dream did not come true, Ferguson took the advice of the 76ers even though he had never been to Europe.
Personal reasons meant he had to sit out the 2008-09 pro season, so the Florida product began his overseas sojourn the following year as he played for the Giants of Noerdlingen in Germany.
Now, some five years after his college career ended, Ferguson has played for pay in Uruguay and Iceland and last year helped another German team, Vechta, win the Pro A league title as he tallied nearly six points and five boards per outing.
Prior to this season Ferguson signed a two-year contract with Karlsruhe, his third German team, and he began the season in late September. “The game is a lot slower” in Europe, he notes. “They are more plays called than on-on-one (offense). It is more technical.”
Located in southwest Germany, Karlsruhe is a city of about 300,000 people that was founded in 1715 and is the birthplace of several top soccer (football) stars.
“Karlsruhe is a bike city. Everyone rides a bike here,” says Ferguson, speaking from Germany following a practice session. “It is the biggest city I have played in.”
Ferguson is one of several former Hawks who have kept their hoop dreams alive in foreign lands. That includes Pat Calathes, who averaged 17.5 points per game as a senior for the Hawks in 2007-08; Darrin Govens, who averaged 13.9 points as a senior 2010; and Ahmad Nivins, who was the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in 2009.
Calathes, who is of Greek descent, has played several years in Greece and spent the 2012-13 season in Israel. He has signed to play this season in Kazakhstan, according to eurobasket.com.
A 6-foot-1 guard, Govens has also played pro ball in Iceland and Israel and is lacing up his sneakers this season for a team in Greece.
Nivins, who was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2009, went to Spain and suffered a knee injury. Since recovering, he has played in Belgium and in France, where he was an All-Star last season. This year he will be playing for another team in France, Pau-Lacq-Orthez, after he averaged around 15 points and six boards per contest last season.
Ferguson's German team played in a pre-season tournament in Switzerland in September and basketball has also also taken the native of Casselberry, Fla. to France and the Czech Republic. His teammates, in addition to Germans, have included those from Lithuania, Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic.
Other former American NCAA players on the roster of his German team in early October included Jeremy Black (University of Tampa), Andre Calvin (Drake) and Jaivon Harris (Ohio).
Basketball overseas can be a vagabond existence for many Americans, moving from one country to another in search of better competition and, perhaps, a bigger paycheck. But Ferguson appears to be putting down roots: he was married on July 20, 2013 to the former Verena Nickel, who has played women's basketball at a high level in her native country, most recently for DJK Brose Bamberg.
Ferguson, who graduated in 2008 with a degree in fine arts, tells his friends in Florida they should play overseas if they have a chance. Like most Americans with a Division I pedigree, Ferguson is provided the free use of an apartment and transportation by his club in Germany, along with his salary.
Many American males in Germany can make between $1300 to $3200 per month though there is room for flexibility, according a source. “We (a Pro-A second division team) have some Americans making $1500 a month and others making $3200 a month,” according to the source.
Some of the adjustments Ferguson has to make on the court is that FIBA, the governing board of European hoops, will call walking on a player if he does not clearly put the ball on the floor before picking up his pivot foot.
Another transition is that many teams in Europe practice twice a day and sometimes play only once a week. While in Uruguay his team would sometimes practice three times a day – but making the switch is worth it for Ferguson.
“You are living out your dreams if you have a chance to play. It is not like the NBA but you are still playing ball. You are paid to do something you love. If you love what you are doing you never have to work,” he says.
Editor's note: Free-lance writer David Driver has covered the Atlantic 10 for many years and has written about American players overseas for 10 years. While living in Hungary he did dozens of stories on former NCAA players in Europe, filing stories for newspapers and magazines from Austria, England, France, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. He has also covered German teams who played games in Hungary. He is a college basketball correspondent for The Sports Xchange, a member of the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association and can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com
