Meads making Waves in the US
At 20 years old, you wouldn’t think of New Plymouth basketballer Harrison Meads as a veteran.
However, with two years of collegiate basketball under his belt, he will join California’s Pepperdine University to provide experience and wisdom to the men’s basketball team.
After spending two years at Laramie Community College in Wyoming, Meads has accepted a scholarship to play for the Pepperdine Waves this season in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division one competition.
‘‘It’s quite a contrast going from 6000 feet altitude, the snow and the wind to being on the beach with some sun. It should be nice,’’ Meads said.
Meads will go into the programme as a junior, having already used two years of his fouryear eligibility at the collegiate level.
‘‘They want me for someone who’s experienced and, it feels weird to say, but an older person. Someone who’s been there and can provide some wisdom.
‘‘I don’t know about the wisdom part, but I can do what is needed of me.’’
The 2.4m (6ft 7in) power forward will front for the Malibubased school in the West Coast Conference, which features last year’s national championship runner’s up Gonzaga, and St Mary’s California - who also qualified for the national tournament last season. ‘‘I’m very excited,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m not exactly sure how it came around, but perhaps my coach got in contact with them. The first time I met them they came to my practise, then they came and watched a game and offered me a scholarship.’’
While somewhat undersized at power forward, Meads said he loved the athletic nature of the game at the college level.
Athleticism isn’t a foreign concept to the big man, who does a bit of everything on the court and can get his head above the rim ‘‘on a good day.’’
‘‘It’s fun, it’s very fun. I love the games, there’s a lot of little nuances that I can’t really explain - the game’s almost entirely different.
‘‘I love the athletic, hard, just competitive nature of it all.’’
Since he took up the sport at the age of six, he has gone from playing for fun to making representative teams and now is set to take on the next generation of NBA stars.
For the former New Plymouth Boys’ High School student, the scholarship was another step toward his ultimate goal of having a professional career in the sport.
‘‘I really started getting serious about it in my last year of high school.
‘‘I just wanted to be the best I could in that last year, but then I was thinking ‘this is it for me, basketball’s over’.
‘‘I had no idea I could go and play in the States. In a way I think I just lucked myself into a scholarship.
‘‘I want to keep doing it for as long as I can, because it’s a lot more fun than actual work.’’
The Waves’ season gets under way on November 11 (NZ time) when they take on the Oklahoma State University Cowboys.