James Gist: "Spurs sent me to Europe for a year"

[lukeridenour]

James Gist: "Spurs sent me to Europe for a year"
Brak Huerta, SpursReport
Tuesday, November 04, 2008

This past summer, with the 57th overall selection, the Spurs picked James Gist, a 6-9 forward for Maryland.

In his senior year, 21-year-old Gist was named to the All-ACC Second Team and ACC All-Defensive Team after averaging 15.9 points and 7.9 rebounds.

Gist looked fantastic during Summer League play for the team often leading the team in scoring, but instead of heading to training camp, he surprised many fans by signing with a pro basketball club based in Biella, Italy.

There had been rumor that the team signed Gist, but for over a week, the Spurs denied or otherwise quieted those rumors and no official reports were substantiated until later- not long after Gist had been introduced to the media in San Antonio.

As it turned out, Gist headed to Europe under the advice of Gregg Popovich.

Gist has finally checked in after quietly disappeaing to Italy.

"I graduated from college, got drafted in the NBA by the San Antonio Spurs, and now I am Biella Italy, a beautiful city about an hour drive from Milan," writes Gist on his blog.

"I will consider myself blessed through this process; it's been a roller coaster but a fun experience. Waiting to get my name called on draft day was a nerve racking experience but nothing compares to walking up to the podium to receive my college degree from the University of Maryland. Playing in the NBA has always been my dream, I was very disappointed when the Spurs decided to send me overseas to play for a year, but I trusted their judgment and after speaking to coach Popovich I felt more comfortable, how can I dispute the judgment of a hall of famer like him."

Can we expect to see Gist in a Spurs uniform next season? It's much too early to tell but his skills have been improving and "I feel like I am already off the charts compared to when I was in Maryland."

"The players here are more experienced and more precise, in college you can get away with a mistake on defense, but here you pay for that mistake immediately, players do not miss when they are open!"

For now, he's simply learning to enjoy his experience in Italy.

"Being away from my family and friends has been the most challenging situation I have to deal with over here," writes Gist. "The culture, food and people are so breathtaking! I have been on the road so I have had the opportunity to see a lot of places in Italy and it's really beautiful, my team mates are the best, I had to get used to driving the small cars and the narrow roads but everything else is pretty much nice."

http://www.yardbarker.com/jamesgist

[Ballings7]

I'm very intrigued to see him back in the next 1 or 2 years, we need a foward like him

[Black_Jack21]

<grumbles> thats what Splitter said too</grumble>
Ahem awesome, if we can get gist over here next year to replace KT He'd have a nice young rotation around Timmy.
Nothing spesh but young legs none the less. It'd be a nice change.