If you talk to anyone who has coached Leslie Knight, the first thing they will tell you about is her work ethic. That work ethic has led to a high school basketball championship at Hopkins, a successful Big Ten career and now two professional contracts in Europe.
After Knight graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2008, she spent last year playing professionally in Switzerland. Just recently Knight signed a contract to play for Alcobendas in Spain for the 2009-10 season.
She will leave on Sept. 1 for the town that is just seven miles north of Madrid.
"I had an excellent time in Switzerland, but I just wanted something different," Knight said. "I always wanted to end up in Spain because I minored in Spanish in college."
When it comes to European basketball, Switzerland is not known to be a powerhouse and that also factored in Knight's decision to change teams this year.
Knight said she was one of only three professional players on her Swiss team and that the remainder of the roster featured players anywhere from 16 to 30 years old with vastly different levels of talent.
"I wanted to play on a team that was a little more serious with more professional players," Knight said.
Knight adapted to the European game fairly well in her first season overseas. She led her Swiss team - Canti Riva - in scoring and rebounding at 19.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Some of the things Knight and other American born players must adapt to in Europe include a differently configured lane area, a 24-second shot clock and a much more strictly enforced traveling violation rule.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle Knight had to face during her year in Switzerland, however, was the language barrier.
Switzerland has four official languages (German, French, Italian and Rumantsch) that are traditionally spoken in different regions of the country.
Knight played in southern Switzerland near the boarder of Italy and so most of the players and coaches on Knight's Swiss team spoke Italian.
"The language barrier was difficult, but Italian and Spanish are similar so it was a little easier," Knight said. "Practice was hard at first trying to understand what my coaches were saying. It was a learning experience. As the year went on my Italian got better, but there were definitely some miscommunications."
Knight will be the only American on her Spanish team this year, but there will be at least one other player who speaks fluent English on her team. Sarah Crooks, a post player from Canada, will also play for Alcobendas and will be a roommate of Knight's.
"That will be nice to have her around to speak English with," Knight said.
This summer, Knight has been keeping herself busy by working out and working at several basketball camps around the state including Janet Karvonen Basketball Camps, Hopkins Basketball Camps and camps at the University of Minnesota at Crookston and North Dakota State University.
As for how long she will continue to pursue professional basketball as a career, Knight said she will make that decision on a yearly basis.
"I think my desire for the game will change year to year and how I feel right now might be different than how I feel next year," Knight said. "As long as I'm still passionate about it I think I'll continue to play. I just feel fortunate that I'm able to do this so as long as I'm excited about it I'll continue to play."
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, August 14, 2009
Article comment by:
Jim B
A very nice article on Leslie. Thanks for keeping us up to date on a very fine person and Gopher Women's basketball player.
