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Samuels hails local camp for his big basketball break
July 14, 2023
One of the best basketball prospects to have represented Jamaica in basketball is the six-foot, nine-inch frame of Samardo Samuels.
Samuels, who plays power forward and centre positions, believes Jamaica's Star Search Basketball Camp, which seeks to unearth young talents, played an important role in his early development before he migrated to the United States of America (USA).
"That camp really changed everything, as that's where I met Steve Johnson, who helped me get into a school in America, so he opened the gate for me. Going to the Star Search Camp really gave me my opportunity," Samuels stated.
Samuels, who had his last stint playing in the Kosovo League with Bashkimi Prizren, has had an extensive career playing in leagues such as the NBA in the USA, Spain, Italy and Greece. However, it was in the Italian League in 2014, playing for Olimpia Milano that he lifted his first professional title. To him, that meant the world.
"It was a different feeling, as it came at a time when I had already played three years in NBA, and then I wasn't playing as much, so I took my talents to Italy. It was nice. It was challenging and wasn't as easy as I initially thought it would have been. Europe was pretty hard," Samuels believes.
He believes that of his sojourns, playing in the Spanish League was the hardest, as the league is filled with talented players similar to the NBA.
"I think Spain was arguably, at that time, the second-best league behind the NBA. I think they have a lot of talent in how they approach the game, similar to the NBA style," he added.
For the experience and veteran player, a unified approach will further help the development of basketball on local soil, and he added that he sees the game heading in the right direction.
"It takes unity in terms of where basketball is in Jamaica now. I think it's growing, but there's always room for improvement. Overall, It's heading in the right direction," he concluded.
