Former Duke basketball player Jon Scheyer, who averaged 18.2 points per game as a senior in 2009-2010 and helped lead the Blue Devils to the national championship, signed last week to play with Gran Canaria in Spain. After going undrafted in the 2010 NBA Draft, Scheyer played in the NBA’s Development League and last year played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. Scheyer spoke to The Chronicle’s sports editor Andrew Beaton about his move to Europe.
The Chronicle: How has the transition been to Spain?
Jon Scheyer: It’s been interesting. It’s been good overall.
TC: Have you had the chance to meet people from your team yet?
JS: Yeah, we’ve had a few practices. We had two [Wednesday] and one when I first got here on Monday.
TC: How were the practices?
JS: They went really well. Right now it’s just about getting in shape, learning the team and what they like to do and getting to know them, and sharpening up my skills.
TC: What led you to want to play for Gran Canaria?
JS: I felt like it was a great opportunity for me. This is such a huge year for me and my career and Gran Canaria is a really good team. They always compete in the Spanish league and so to just be able to play against some of the best players in the world—outside of the NBA, the Spanish league is one of the best—just that opportunity to go away and work on my game and improve. I want to improve everything in practice. I thought it was the ideal situation, and my teammates have been great so far.
TC: Did playing in the NBA Summer League the past few months give you that same chance to improve?
JS: Definitely. The Summer League that was really good to get my confidence back. I thought I played really well the past couple of games. For me, it’s just about playing. I need to play. This was a good opportunity to play and I want to take a really big step this year—put it all out and show people I can play against anybody in the world.
TC: Did you speak to former Duke basketball player and your former teammate Kyle Singler about what it was like to play in Spain?
JS: I did call Kyle. It was good to get his thoughts on everything. He has been in this position and I’ve been over here too. Kyle helped me make this decision and look what it’s done for Kyle—it’s been a great move for him.
TC: How does Europe compare to Israel so far?
JS: It’s different, just from the standpoint that they are two completely different places. Fortunately, there’s good weather in both places for me. I’m not fully adjusted yet. Even with the time zone I’m a little bit off. And my Spanish—I took Spanish my freshman year of high school—and since then I haven’t spoken a word. But it’s been coming back to me a little and I’ve been trying to pick it up because that’s what everybody speaks.
TC: What language did you take while you were at Duke?
JS: It’s funny you ask—I had some interesting experiences with my languages, so I picked a couple languages. Languages have always been a struggle for me, so I took a little bit of Italian, I took Latin the first couple semesters and I took a linguistics course where I learned every language of the world. So, I’ve had a pretty great experience with languages. I just don’t know one that well.
TC: Have you gotten an indication as to what your role with the team will be? JS: They said they want me to play the one and the two. I really want to play and I really want to win. I didn’t want anyone to promise me anything, but I’m just really looking forward to playing.
TC: What were your first impressions of their coach, Pedro Martinez?
JS: Coach Martinez has been great. He’s been really helpful so far in terms of just getting the basics down. That’s been my main goal in the first couple weeks.
TC: Did you consider playing elsewhere besides Gran Canaria?
JS: I was talking with a bunch of different teams… I thought about going back to Israel, but I don’t know how that would have been. I thought about the NBA Development League, trying to stick around training camps. So, I had some good options, but this was the best one and this one felt like the right one.
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