Five South Carolina men’s basketball student-athletes traveled the world this summer after taking advantage of the opportunity to play with several different national teams. For freshman Alanzo Frink (Dominican Republic), sophomore Felipe Haase (Chile), junior Maik Kotsar (Estonia), freshman A.J. Lawson (Canada) and sophomore Justin Minaya (USA East Coast), it was a chance to not only grow their game, but also to enjoy the pride that comes with wearing the uniform of a national team.
“That was a really cool experience,” said Minaya, who traveled to Italy with USA East Coast. “We played Germany, Italy, and then the Netherlands, twice. The competition was really good. They were all pros in their countries, and they had been playing together for a long time, whereas we had only been together for a few days.
“I wasn’t intimidated. The other teams obviously had good team chemistry since they had been playing together, though.”
“The first time I went away for a week, and it was tough because you were playing against a lot of older players,” said Haase, a sport and entertainment management major who played with the Chilean national team as well as the U-21 team. “They had already played in college, and some of them have played overseas or in the NBA, so it was a great experience. I got to see different styles of play. It was very comfortable for me. The people and the atmosphere were amazing.”
Frink, an exercise science major, has played in Spain, Chile, Brazil and Puerto Rico prior to his experience this summer with the Dominican Republic’s national team. This year, he played in Canada at the FIBA U18 Americas Championship.
“I’ve been away from home a lot, so it wasn’t that difficult to do that,” said Frink. “It’s really great. The people in the Dominican Republic have a big support system for us. They take us in like we’re family.”
Lawson also played in the FIBA U18 Americans Championship, representing his native Canada for the first time.
“We hosted in our home city, so my family came out. We had a great time,” Lawson said. “We came in second. It was a great experience. We qualified for the [FIBA U18 World Cup] next year. It was fun playing for my city, playing for my country, and playing for myself in competing against other great teams.”
Kotsar played for Estonia’s 3-on-3 national team initially, and later played with the 5-on-5 national team as well.
“For 3-on-3, we played in tournaments in Latvia, Finland, and Estonia. Later I went to the World Championships in the Philippines. It was a great experience,” said Kotsar, who has a double major in business management with a minor in institutional technology. “Later on, I played with the 5-on-5 team. We played Finland, once there and once at home, and we played Great Britain in Scotland, and Greece at home.
“Getting to play for the national team is a huge experience. Hearing the experiences from the older guys was big for me. They had a lot of tips for me on how to be a better player and how to be a better leader. There’s a lot I took away from that.”
“Every time you walk in the gym, people are looking at your uniform with the U-S-A across the chest. It was really nice.”
– Justin Minaya
It was also an opportunity for the student-athletes to find out more about their own skills to discover where they can improve.
“One thing I learned is that you don’t have to be a big body to play big in the post,” Kotsar said. “A lot of the older, experienced guys were smaller than me, but they could manage their body so well. They know when and when not to create contact. They can push out a guy that’s bigger than them just from their experience.”
“I definitely have to get stronger,” Haase said. “You can see the difference out there with the strength and the quickness those players have. You see how you are, and you have to keep getting better.”
“I feel like this helped me improve a lot,” said Minaya, a retail major. “Whether it was with my dribbling or just getting to the rim. I learned a lot about myself and how to get comfortable around new people. I think the experience will help me grow as a leader and as a person. It made me realize that I can be a leader on this team and that I need to be more confident in myself to become a leader.”
“Everyone overseas in versatile,” said Frink. “I think I can help our team out by being versatile and playing defense, rebounding, and shooting. I could see that I can be a versatile player.”
“I learned different styles of play,” Lawson said. “It was new to me. It was fun adjusting, but it was also hard. It was my first time playing in front of big crowds, so getting used to the stadium and the atmosphere will help me transition to playing to the college game with the big atmosphere, especially in the SEC. You have to play hard for the whole game. You can’t take plays off, or else you’ll get burned.”
Fortunately for the student-athletes, the travel wasn’t all business as they did have opportunities to check out the sites wherever they played and learned some lessons as well.
“We saw a lot of Verona, and we went to Venice,” Minaya said. “We rode on the water taxis and went to a beach. I loved Venice and being on the water taxis.”
“We went to Niagara Falls,” Frink said. “That was cool. It was cold. I mean it was coooold!”
“The Philippines was interesting,” Kotsar said. “The diversity there is huge. You can see a huge skyscraper, and right next to it are the slums; people living in poverty. We went there as a team to visit with people, and we handed out some basketball gear.”
For young student-athletes who aspire to play at the next level, the magnitude of representing a nation each time they wore the uniform was a big deal.
“The best part was representing my country,” Haase said. “That is something that I love. Any time I get a chance to do it, I’m going to do it. It’s the best feeling you can have.”
“It was nice putting on the uniform,” Minaya said with a big grin. “Every time you walk in the gym, people are looking at your uniform with the U-S-A across the chest. It was really nice.”
“I had a big smile on my face when I first put the jersey on,” Lawson said. “My teammates and I were taking pictures. It was a great moment.”
“Just interacting with different, new people was the best part for me,” added Frink.
“Putting on the jersey really meant a lot,” Kotsar said. “When I was growing up, I followed them every summer. I went to the games with my dad a lot. To now be able to put on the jersey myself, it really means so much.”
Now that they’re back in South Carolina and preparing to wear the Garnet and Black, the Gamecocks hope their globetrotting experiences will help them reach their goals for the upcoming season.
“I just want to keep getting better, show people what I can do, and try to make it to March!” Haase said.
“The main goal is to make it to March, but before that you just have to get better every day and try to become a leader and follow Coach (Frank) Martin,” Minaya said.
“I want us to go far and make it to the national championship,” Frink said. “I’m just watching everybody else and learning from them and Coach Martin right now.”
“A personal goal is to do whatever I can to help the team win, and play my role the best that I can,” Lawson said. “I want to go to the tournament and go far. I want to build chemistry, and if we do that, I think we’ll go real far.”
“The team goal is making it back to the tournament and having the best season we can have,” Kotsar said. “Personally, I want to be there for the team more this year. I want to be a better leader. I want the team to be great together.”
