The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
VASJ ALUM CHERISHES LIFE AS PRO IN EUROPE
In basketball terms, Demonte Flannigan was in a zone.
A 6-foot-8 forward for the Cheshire Phoenix of the British Basketball League, Flannigan had just finished a five-game stretch in which he averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.
The 2013 graduate of Villa Angela-St. Joseph bubbled with enthusiasm as his team’s March 22 game against the Worcester Wolves neared.
Flannigan felt nothing could stop his hot streak. The novel coronavirus disagreed.
Instead of traveling to Worcester, Flannigan found himself standing in a line at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, sent home to the
United States after the remainder of his season had been canceled because of the COVID-19 virus that has spread to more than 140 countries worldwide.
Now, instead of continuing his professional basketball career in Europe, Flannigan is back in the Cleveland area, wondering not only when his basketball career might resume, but also wondering how his friends and teammates in Europe are doing.
“In Europe, people are very afraid of this,” said Flannigan, 25. “We’re not that far from Italy, which is leading the world in deaths — and the numbers are rising.
“I played in Austria last year. I have friends there and near Italy, and they’re all in lockdown. It’s really bad over there. I didn’t want to be any part of that.”
Actually, Flannigan didn’t have a choice but to come back to America. The Cheshire management called a meeting last week, days before the team’s game against Worcester, and said the season was off until further notice.
“Americans need to go home,” Flannigan said of the directive he received. “If you didn’t go home, you’d be stuck there another three months. All flights were canceled as of Friday. So I got the first flight I could out of there.”
Once at the Newark Airport, Flannigan said everyone coming into the country had their temperature checked. Some were asked to hold their breath for 10 seconds, and if they couldn’t do so, suspicions rose on whether they might have COVID-19.
One of the symptoms of COVID-19 is shortness of breath.
“For me personally, I worry more for the people with weak immune systems and
the elderly,” Flannigan said. “It’s really bad over there (in Europe). Everybody is afraid of it coming to them.”
Up until the mandate that called off for the foreseeable future the British Basketball League, Flannigan was in one of the hottest streaks of his young professional career. His season averages of 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game didn’t reflect the five-game stretch in which he played the best basketball maybe of his pro career, one which began in the fall of 2017.
“I was really playing well,” Flannigan said.
After finishing his playing career at Cleveland State, Flannigan signed first with the London Lions, where he averaged 14.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, then played the second half of the year with the Svendborg Rabbits in Denmark, where he averaged 11.7 points and 7.1 boards.
After working out with some NBA scouts in 2018, Flannigan signed for the 2018-19 season with the Wels Flyers in Austria. But a muscle strain put him on the shelf for nearly six weeks,
cutting short his season.
“They sent me home because they needed another player to win the division, and I couldn’t play,” Flannigan said. “I was out the rest of the year.”
Healthy again, Flannigan signed with Cheshire this year and had just found his groove when the season was halted by COVID-19.
“I hadn’t played organized basketball in about a year, so I got off to a bad start,” he said of the current season. “But the last five games or so, I really got my rhythm. Everything had been going good.
“The international game is much faster. That was my biggest adjustment coming out of college. It’s way more physical. Those players are strong over there. The Americans are a little more skilled, but those (international players) are so good with their fundamentals.”
Among his teammates in Cheshire are Parker Jackson Cartwright, who played collegiately for Arizona, and Jalen Hayes, who played against Flannigan and CSU while a member of Oakland (Mich.).
“To be able to play basketball for a job is amazing,” Flannigan said. “To be able to travel make new friends all over the world and play a game I love — it’s been a blessing.”
If there was one blessing to the long flight from England back to America, it gave Flannigan some time to reflect on his Clevelandarea roots, not only in life, but also in basketball.
“I remember my eighthgrade year, we went to St. Vincent-St. Mary and LeBron (James) was there that day,” Flannigan said. “I played with him and against him. I wasn’t anywhere near close what he could do, but I thought, ‘You know, maybe if I work hard, I could do this.’ LeBron’s work ethic and passion really inspired me.”
Then a student at Richmond Heights, Flannigan left what he said would have been a powerhouse to go to VASJ.
“We had guys like Mark Williams (Benedictine), Pharoah Brown (Brush),” Flannigan said. “We had a powerhouse. Arthur Christian, Jamie Days, Mike McQueen ...”
At VASJ, Flannigan was
a four-time All-Ohioan — a three-time first-teamer, to be exact. As a senior, he helped lead the Vikings to a 25-4 record and the Division IV state title via an 8763 win over Leipsic.
That team also featured Evansville signee Duane Gibson and a trio of eventual Division I college signees in Brian Parker, Carlton Bragg and Dererk Pardon — all of whom were sophomores that year.
“The thing about that team, we were all friends. We were so close, the closest team I’ve ever been on in my life,” Flannigan said. “When I was a junior, some of those guys told me I was part of the reason they came to VASJ. I took that responsibility of leadership seriously. I felt I had a responsibility to live up to with Carlton, Dererk and those guys.”
Flannigan said he still laments not winning state championships in his sophomore and junior seasons. The top-seeded Vikings lost to Cleveland Central Catholic, 61-48, in a 2011 district final in Painesville, then lost to Richmond Heights, 64-61 in overtime, in a 2012 district
final in Garfield Heights.
“We felt untouchable,” Flannigan said of both teams. “We knew if we got by those teams, we’d win the whole thing.”
That put extra emphasis on his senior year.
“Oh yeah, we wanted that so bad,” he said. “You always want to go on to the next level and be successful, but I wanted that championship first.”
Flannigan credits his upbringing in Richmond Heights, VASJ and Cleveland State for putting him in position to play basketball professionally. His goal remains to one day win a spot on an NBA roster.
“I just need the opportunity,” he said.
That opportunity is on hold right now, and he understands why.
“I just love this game,” Flannigan said. “Even if I didn’t have the ability to play, I’d watch it every day.
“Am I discouraged not playing right now? Not at all. It’s terrible to see what’s going on around the world right now, and you have to put your life on pause. But right now, everybody’s life is on pause.”