Getting to play your sport at the college level is an amazing opportunity that many people strive for. Out of the 8 million students that participate in high school sports, only 495,000 of them will participate in the NCAA according to ncaa.org. Of those students in the NCAA, only a small handful of them will have their chance at playing professionally or overseas.
Playing professionally can look different for anyone. For some, you will get reached out to and the opportunities will come to you. For others, you can sign up with an agency that will help look for these opportunities. If waiting to play overseas, you can continue your education abroad and play for a university in a different country.
In 2020 Micah Speight from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, graduated from SNU where he played basketball for the Crimson Storm. At the end of his senior season with the Storm, an agent reached out to him and presented the opportunity to pursue his dreams of playing professionally. “Professional basketball has always been a dream of mine since I was a kid. The older I got, the more it felt real and achievable” Speight explains.
Speight now plays in Spain for Palencia Baloncesto. “My favorite part of playing overseas would have to be learning and adjusting to the culture change around me” Speight says. He says that if you are an athlete wanting to play overseas, you need to “Be better than you were yesterday. Keep working, keep trusting your craft, and keep trusting God.”
Getting the chance to play professionally or overseas while playing the sport you love truly is a dream come true. However, to do so, you must work hard everyday and stand out from everyone else. Not just at your university among your teammates but everyone playing at the collegiate level with the same goals.
Photo Courtesy of Micah Speight