Bastian Reuss has made a steep ascent, thanks in part to his role model Michael Jordan. The 15-year-old from Solz plays for ACT Kassel in the youth basketball league (JBBL). His personal goal is the BBL, the basketball league.
Solz / Kassel – “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen” (in German: some people want it to happen, some want it, others make it possible). True to this quote from former US basketball player Michael Jordan, 15-year-old Bastian Reuss from Solz wants to make his dreams come true.
The inspiration for this gave him not only his role model Michael Jordan, but also his former trainer Alai Barite. “If you train enough, you can do anything,” says Bastian Reuss, who made the leap into the youth basketball league (JBBL) last year. In the U 16 of the ACT Kassel, the man from Solzer has been hunting baskets since September.
The passion for basketball came when I was ten. A business colleague of his father Alexander invited the two of them to the Gotha Rockets game against the Eisbären Bremerhaven – the first game that Bastian Reuß watched live. “That was really cool,” says the 15-year-old today. At the time he was particularly impressed by the speed of the game – a team only has 24 seconds to attack.
Basketball in the youth Bundesliga (JBBL): From Gotha via Hersfeld to ACT Kassel
The euphoria was so great at the time that a little later Bastian Reuss wanted to stand on the floor himself and his football boots, he played in Bebra for three years, hung up. The Solzer started his career as a basketball player in Gotha (Thuringia) – but only for a few months. “That was just not logistically feasible,” emphasizes mother Isabell, who at that time always drove her son the 80-kilometer route from Solz to Gotha to training.
The next step followed for Bastian Reuss in 2019 with the change to TV Hersfeld Titans in the district league. The 15-year-old owes his greatest progress today to his then coach Alai Barite. “He has made a great contribution to my path and has shown me that it pays off when you train a lot,” says Reuss. Barite would have made him fit and recommended him for higher tasks that were not long in coming.
The number 25 at ACT Kassel: Bastian Reuss.
© Andreas Fischer
After a training session at ACT Kassel in September last year, the man from Solzer was accepted directly into the U16 squad of the club’s basketball department. “It is of course great that I was given the opportunity to play in JBBL,” says Reuss and adds: “I owe that to Alai to a certain extent. He prepared me well. ”Because Reuss was used to training intensely and hard. “I knew in advance what to expect and that I had to give 100 percent,” he says.
Season in the youth basketball league interrupted: “This is absolute crap”
Three times a week – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays – the 15-year-old now travels to Kassel for training, mostly by train. “I can do a few things on the train ride so that I can get everything under control,” says Reuss. Because by the time he is back home in Solz after training, the day will be over for him. “There isn’t much time left – not even on the weekend, but it pays off,” emphasizes the 1.90 meter tall basketball player who is one of the tallest on his team.
“My job is to create and prepare the game for the top performers,” says Reuss, who takes up the position of small forward in the game, also known as the winger in German. For him, it is also part of creating space for his teammates. But if the number 25 throws at the basket herself, then the middle distance throwing from about six meters is his favorite discipline.
The primary goal this season is for the U16 basketball players who are playing in the youth Bundesliga for their second year to stay up. But here too, the ACTers have to be patient, as the season is currently interrupted due to the corona pandemic. “Everything has just started and then that. That is absolute crap,” says Bastian Reuss and adds: “That took a large part of me.”
The goal is the basketball league
Reuss’ personal goal is to be in the basketball league at some point. “If I keep the desire and motivation and stay on the ball, then I can do it,” emphasizes the 15-year-old and adds: “Whether it is enough for the NBA (North American professional league, editor’s note) is clear in the stars. “
But first of all his focus is on the Abitur at the Jakob-Grimm-Schule in Rotenburg. “Then I’ll think about it,” says the ninth grader, who also infected his younger brother Martin with a passion for basketball.
From Alicia Kreth
