Daily News | What’s next for Charles Bassey? Charting the recently released Sixers center’s NBA journey and tenuous future
Sixers big man Charles Bassey's basketball journey took him from Nigeria to Western Kentucky and then the NBA.SAN ANTONIO — At this point, all Charles Bassey can do is wait for another NBA opportunity.
A source said several NBA teams have already reached out to Bassey’s agent. But the uncertainty he is experiencing can’t compare to the precariousness he has endured during his basketball journey. He asked Bassey if he played basketball. “I was like, ‘Nah, man,’ ” Bassey said. “‘No one even knows there’s basketballs in Africa. We play soccer.’”“He came out there and talked to me,” Bassey said. “I think he talked to one of my friends and they took him to where I lived.”
So he sent Awonuga workout videos. In return, Auriantal received videos of Bassey performing what he learned. But when that fell through, Auriantal acted fast and asked St. Anthony’s board members if they could take in Bassey and Faniran on short notice. Known for housing international students, the small Catholic school said it would make a decision in 72 hours. But Auriantal still had concerns.
But one Friday afternoon, Bassey was called into the principal’s office. He thought he was in trouble when he saw St. Anthony staff members in the room along with Auriantal and Faniran and heard his family on conference call. Once he was seated, Bassey’s father informed him of his mother’s accident and how she was rushed to the hospital where doctors were unsuccessful while trying to save her.
“All of a sudden, here’s this kid that plays at St. Anthony’s and they are winning all these games,” said James Lewis, an AAU coach and former St. Gerard Catholic School player. “Here’s this guy, he’s tall. He’s blocking all these shots. We’ve haven’t had anybody really change the landscape like him here since Devin Brown [a former South San Antonio West High standout and NBA player].”
“You had everybody asking, ‘Who’s this kid at Anthony’s of all places, putting them on the map?’ ” Lewis said. “The other coaches were like, ‘How did St. Anthony’s get this kid?’ And everybody started digging into what’s going on. That’s how much of an impact he had.” “When he came in, egos were hurt from the other schools around the area,” Calderón said, “because they were getting beat by a school that was not supposed to beat them. Once Charles beat them almost single-handedly, their boosters were upset. There were people in the community who were upset and it’s not like we were doing anything different from them.
Bassey was the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in his first collegiate season. He also garnered All-Conference USA first-team honors. However, his sophomore season was cut short after he suffered a season-ending knee fracture in the 10th game against Arkansas.
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