LAKEWOOD, CO- After a stellar career at Colorado Christian, former men's basketball player Isaiah Alonzo has signed a pro contract to play overseas. The forward from Chandler, Arizona will head to Norway to play for the Oppsal Panthers in the BLNO, the highest level of basketball in the country.
It was always a goal for Alonzo to play professional basketball, and he will get to do so now in a strong European league. The path to Norway began when Alonzo turned heads at a camp in Arkansas, where he eventually picked up an agent to represent him and find him a contract.
"My agent started contacting teams, talking to them around the clock for me. He sent me to Ireland first, I went on a pro visit to Ireland and scored about 20 points in a game over there, but they told me I wasn't what they were looking for," Alonzo said. "Then it was back to the drawing board, looking for teams and all that. This Norway opportunity came afloat and he was able to lock that down for me and get me the contract."
Isaiah is set to leave August 24th for Norway where he will begin training before the season gets underway.
"I want to be a high level scorer, great teammate and leader. A lot of guys on my team are my age or younger, and they expect me to come in as a leader, high level scorer and good passer," said Alonzo. "I want to grow my game at the professional level, even going to Ireland for the week that I was there helped me understand that the pro game and the college game are completely different. Getting myself ready for the possibility of a 5 year career, 1 year career or 10 year career, I just want to leave everything I have on the table that I have."
With the increase of star European players in the NBA in recent years, there has been more attention paid to basketball in Europe. Many of these players have commented on the physicality of the game overseas, and Alonzo feels playing in the physical and hard-nosed RMAC has prepared him well for this style of play.
"I feel like it won't be too hard of an adjustment, the RMAC was one of the most physical leagues I might be around in my basketball career. Very physical league, you go in and get beat up one night and then you have a four hour bus ride through the middle of the night just to go do it the next night," Alonzo said. "My game is very European style anyway, the way I can pick and pop, pass and shoot the triple, so I feel like the biggest adjustment while there will be the culture, the language, the people and the food."
The season will be starting for Alonzo the first week of October and ends in late March or April, similar to the college basketball season here in America. In addition to playing with the Panthers, Alonzo will also have the opportunity to coach at Oppsal.
"I have assistant coaching duties while I'm there too, I get to be coaching all the way from their 1st-2nd grade team all the way to their U19 and U20 team. A lot of these European teams have big programs, so they have little kid teams all the way up to their pro teams. That was a really personal thing that I really enjoyed in the contract, I like to do that a lot in my free time. When I work at home I coach kids so it really felt like me," Alonzo said.
Isaiah credited his experience at Colorado Christian for shaping him into the basketball player he is today.
"I feel like if I didn't go to CCU I'd be a different player. I had a lot of diversity and struggles at CCU that made me a stronger basketball player and a stronger man," said Alonzo. "Coach [Liam] Simmons and Coach [Chris] D [Dendinger] were really hard on me for good reason. They knew I could be something really good, they believed in me from day one, but they didn't give me any slack, they told me I could do it and here's how you're gonna do it and gave me the blueprint and the map. I don't think I'd be playing pro basketball right now if it weren't for Coach D and Coach Simmons. I really appreciate them for everything they did."
As Alonzo prepares to head to Norway towards the end of August, he is ready for the challenge of a new journey as he continues his career in the game of basketball. Congratulations to Isaiah Alonzo on signing a pro contract for the Oppsal Panthers in Norway, Cougar Nation is rooting you on!
