Hasquet signs with Swiss team
7/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
In a little more than a month, Missoula Sentinel and Montana Grizzlies' basketball standout Jordan Hasquet is going to have a major change of zip code.
The 6-foot-8 1/2, 245-pounder is headed Basel, Switzerland, to play professionally for Starwings Basket Regio Basel. He leaves Aug. 18 for training camp, followed by exhibition games in September and a regular season that begins in October.
Hasquet, who is slated to play power forward, said he was contacted by Starwings six weeks ago and that their offer was the best of several that came in from professional clubs in Cyprus, France, Spain and Germany.
"I've kind of been just waiting around these last two months listening to offers," said Hasquet. "I didn't want to rush into it. I kind of listened to Andrew Strait on that. He didn't sign until August."
Strait, a Grizzly standout himself, played for a WBC Kraftwerk Wels in Austria last year. He averaged 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds before he was injured in February, after 20 games.
Now Hasquet, who leaves Missoula No. 7 in career points for the Griz (1,396) and No. 8 for career rebounds (718), is heading to Europe as well.
Hasquet said his salary will be roughly $4,100 per month, with a raise to come on New Year's. The team provides Hasquet with a free apartment, transportation and a meal per day.
The European game is less of a grind than you'll find in the United States.
"One or two games a week, tops," said Hasquet, who's been running and lifting in Missoula this summer, along with hitting some open gyms. "You can play all the way to June, if you keep winning."
Starwings is owned by Novartis, a massive pharmaceutical company in Europe.
"That's kind of cool, too," said Hasquet. "You know you're going to get your paycheck every month. With the economy in the world going down, it'll be good not to have to worry about that."
Hasquet was a first-team all-Big Sky Conference selection for the Grizzlies in 2007, and was second-team all-Big Sky his last two seasons. He averaged 11 points and six rebounds as a senior for UM.
The 6-foot-8 1/2, 245-pounder is headed Basel, Switzerland, to play professionally for Starwings Basket Regio Basel. He leaves Aug. 18 for training camp, followed by exhibition games in September and a regular season that begins in October.
Hasquet, who is slated to play power forward, said he was contacted by Starwings six weeks ago and that their offer was the best of several that came in from professional clubs in Cyprus, France, Spain and Germany.
"I've kind of been just waiting around these last two months listening to offers," said Hasquet. "I didn't want to rush into it. I kind of listened to Andrew Strait on that. He didn't sign until August."
Strait, a Grizzly standout himself, played for a WBC Kraftwerk Wels in Austria last year. He averaged 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds before he was injured in February, after 20 games.
Now Hasquet, who leaves Missoula No. 7 in career points for the Griz (1,396) and No. 8 for career rebounds (718), is heading to Europe as well.
Hasquet said his salary will be roughly $4,100 per month, with a raise to come on New Year's. The team provides Hasquet with a free apartment, transportation and a meal per day.
The European game is less of a grind than you'll find in the United States.
"One or two games a week, tops," said Hasquet, who's been running and lifting in Missoula this summer, along with hitting some open gyms. "You can play all the way to June, if you keep winning."
Starwings is owned by Novartis, a massive pharmaceutical company in Europe.
"That's kind of cool, too," said Hasquet. "You know you're going to get your paycheck every month. With the economy in the world going down, it'll be good not to have to worry about that."
Hasquet was a first-team all-Big Sky Conference selection for the Grizzlies in 2007, and was second-team all-Big Sky his last two seasons. He averaged 11 points and six rebounds as a senior for UM.
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