FAIRBORN — Former Wright State basketball star Vaughn Duggins found his first season in Germany’s top professional league to be everything he hoped it would be.
The trendy European lifestyle suited him. The basketball wasn’t bad either.
Duggins played for the Walter Tigers in Tüebingen, near the Swiss Alps and the Black Forest in southern Germany. He averaged 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists and signed a one-year contract in March to return next season.
“I was pretty happy with the way I played in my rookie season,” said Duggins on Wednesday at the Nutter Center as he took a break from coaching at the Billy Donlon Basketball Camp. “We didn’t finish as well as we wanted to, but we’ve got a good core coming back. We should be able to make the playoffs.”
Duggins crossed paths with former Wright State teammate DaShaun Wood. The two played together in 2006-07 when Wood was a senior and Duggins a freshman.
Wood, an All-Bundesliga second team selection last season and the league MVP in 2011, plays for ALBA Berlin. Duggins visited Wood in Berlin for a couple of days.
“He’s always been a role model,” Duggins said. “I’ve looked up to him since freshman year. A couple of times I got put on him. He’s a little too quick and strong for me, but he can’t handle me in the post.”
Two other European pros joined Duggins at Donlon’s camp.
Cooper Land finished his first season in Norway earlier this year with the Asker Aliens — team slogan: “We play out of this world.” He averaged 21.2 points and 8.8 rebounds. Land has an offer to return, but he’s going to try to play somewhere else.
Like Duggins, he had no problem with the language barrier because everyone spoke English on the court. The weather was another story.
“It was freaking freezing,” Land said. “There was snow on the ground all the way from December to March. It didn’t melt.”
N’Gai Evans will coach at the camp next week. He averaged 6.3 points last season for T.E.D. Istanbul in Turkey.
Improved numbers: Donlon said this week’s camp had the biggest turnout of his seven years with the program. Just over 100 kids attended.
“There’s obviously a lot of competition for camps,” Donlon said. “Kids play multiple sports. There are multiple colleges around here. The competition is pretty fierce. It shows we have a lot of repeat customers so to speak. It shows we have a good product.”
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