Assistant coach, Rodney Billups, watches players run through drills during practice. Billups played professional basketball overseas in Europe. (Matt Sisneros/CU Independent)
Before they began their coaching careers at the University of Colorado, the men’s basketball associate head coach Jean Prioleau and assistant coach Rodney Billups took their talents abroad to a variety of countries as they expanded their playing careers.
For Prioleau, the decision was not based on his talent so much as it was based on a string of bad luck. Straight out of college, he expected to make the Indiana Pacers’ roster as a free agent in 1992, but the dominoes didn’t fall the way he initially hoped and he didn’t make the last cut.
Instead, he began his professional career as a member of the Long Island Surf in the United States Basketball League (USBL), today’s equivalent of the National Basketball Developmental League (NBDL). After a couple years of hopping between the Surf and a number of teams in another minor league, the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), he decided his best move was to take his career to Europe.
“I decided to go overseas and try to make some money, and that’s how I got to Switzerland first,” Prioleau said. “I played there first for two years, then after that I came back in the summer and tried out with the Knicks.”
But, as with the Pacers opportunity, his luck fell short when they dropped him in the last cut in 1995. From there, it was back to Europe.
“Last cut, then I went over to Turkey from there, because I played really well in the summer league and they saw me play in the summer league that year,” Prioleau said. “But they thought I was going to make the Knicks, but I didn’t, so they gave me a contract over in Turkey. So I went and played there and it was a great experience.”
Prioleau says that, at the time, the level of play in Turkey matched that of the NBA here in the states. That meant the talented guards centered around a fast-paced game. After spending a year in the Middle East, he was certain that he would be NBA-ready.
Unfortunately, another setback sidelined him for the entire summer season that year.
“I felt like I was ready to go when I came back, but I hurt my knee in my last game over there and had to get surgery on my knee,” he said. “So I didn’t play that summer, and I felt like that was the summer I was going to break through and make it.”
During his stay in Turkey, his talent caught the eye of another professional team in Italy, Aurora Basket Jesi, who offered him a spot once his knee healed up. Prioleau spent two more years there before his health forced him to hang up his jersey for good. After undergoing five separate surgeries on both of his knees, he knew his playing days were behind him.
That’s when he decided to take his career to the next level. In 1999, an assistant coaching position opened up at Fordham University, his alma mater, where he spent a year before moving around to Wichita State, Marquette, Iowa State, Texas Christian University and finally, Colorado.
As a coach, Prioleau continues to preach the benefits of playing overseas to college players today who might not make it in the NBA. On the side, he offers players advice about the type of market they may face, should they decide to take their skills abroad.
“I just try and tell the guys, you need to be more skilled at whatever position if you’re a big guy: power forward, center, point guard, three man,” Prioleau said. “If you’re a perimeter guy you should be playing every single position. So those are the messages I give in terms of relating it overseas, because the game has changed and a lot of the European players are, I’m not going to say they’re more skilled, but a lot of them are skilled.”
As for Billups, his decision to play overseas was a bit more black and white. His indecision ultimately decided where he would go once he finished his college career at the University of Denver.
“I actually made the decision and I probably could have had better opportunities if I made the decision earlier, but I made the decision to play in Europe after graduation, so it was June before I said I wanted to play,” Billups said. “I got the back-end of the jobs available that year.”
Despite the late entrance to the European basketball market back in 2005, he still had several options to choose from.
“I could have played in Germany for less money,” he said. “I could have played in Poland, where the competition in the league was worse. I could have played in Mexico, but I didn’t want to play in Mexico.”
In the end, he decided to begin his professional career in Eastern Europe.
“I had a couple different opportunities, but Latvia was the best,” Billups said. “When you pick a job overseas, you have to do your research as far as, do they pay on time? How’s the city? How’s the environment? And Latvia at the time was the best.”
Understandably, he did not know what to expect going into his first experience overseas.
“I really had no expectations,” Billups said. “As I began to learn more about myself and what I can tolerate, what I liked and what I didn’t like, I think that stuff changed. It made me more mature. It was a good experience for me.”
Once he arrived at Armijas Sporta Klubs (ASK) Riga, his new team, everything changed. Well, almost everything.
“Different culture, different game as far as the speed and athleticism, different religions and different people in general. The basketball part of it was probably the easiest to adjust to, being that I’ve played for so long as I’ve seen so many guys, especially college and European players. The basketball part was easy, just the other part of it was difficult at first—the language barrier, the different types of foods—but it all came together.”
Shortly after making Latvia his new home, Billups discovered that the language barrier didn’t matter much once he stepped on the court.
“Basketball is basketball,” he said. “Basketball is like a universal language. When you’re out there and you’re competing, everyone’s on the same page, but in the locker room there was a difference.”
After a successful first year with ASK, money issues ultimately ended his career with the Latvians, against his best wishes.
“I actually signed a two-year deal with ASK (Riga),” Billups said. “But when I went back, I didn’t get my money on time, and that’s common in Europe to not pay on time. Two months into it I still hadn’t got paid anything, so my agent found another gig for me which I got drafted in an NBA developmental league. I stayed there for a month and then went to Finland, so it was kind of an unlucky situation. I would have stayed there two years for sure.”
He spent a year in Finland in 2006-2007 before he chose to end his playing career and begin a new profession. In 2010, Boyle hired him as Colorado basketball’s new director of basketball operations, where he spent the next two years before being hired on as a full-time assistant coach.
As with Prioleau, Billups believes a career overseas continues to be a smart move for any young player today who wishes to pursue his playing career past college.
“I do recommend that (playing overseas), just to get the experience,” Billups said. “The money might not always be big, but the opportunity is huge, just to go and experience another culture, another way of life and just learn about yourself. You can always live in America, you’re an American citizen, but going somewhere and living there for 10 months—whatever the length of the season is—is a huge opportunity that a lot of people quite frankly don’t get to experience. I’d recommend it.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.
