Ander Pérez measures 2.18, being the tallest player who has passed through CB Santurtzi /
Ander Pérez signed for the purple box last summer, being one of the largest Biscayan players to have gone through basketball in recent years
They say that dreams must be pursued and that, on many occasions, means leaving your home and your friends to launch yourself into an experience that requires a lot of courage and sacrifice. This is the case of Ander Pérez, a man from Bilbao who measures nothing more and nothing less than a whopping 2.17 meters. This makes him one of the tallest Biscayan players who have played at a good basketball level in recent years. The path of this 25-year-old center has now crossed that of CB Santurtzi, who is intractable in his EBA League group. Never had a player of such stature worn the purple jersey. Now it is in the process of adaptation, but together they hope to achieve great things.
Ander Pérez was trained in the lower categories of Unamuno, being a regular in the Euskadi team and even forming part of the national under-16 and under-18 team. All this aroused the interest of many American universities and six years ago he decided to take the big step of crossing the pond and carrying out an unparalleled training. There he was for five years playing in prestigious university leagues such as the NCAA II and the NAIA. Two seasons ago, he got back on track to sign for Óbila, who also plays in the EBA League. Now he has returned to his homeland and wants to be an important piece in CB Santurtzi.
Ander Pérez defines himself as a good player without the ball who knows how to read the spaces to make room and score. Despite his height, which helps him to be a good rebounder, he has a great mid-range shot, something that makes him a more than interesting player for Iñigo Núñez’s team. But to reach this level, the player admits that “he has suffered a lot.” And it is that he tried his luck in the United States with only 18 years. “When I was in the first year of high school, I started getting offers from American universities, but I still wasn’t sure. In the second year, I received more offers still, so with the support of my family I decided to accept one of them ”, he reveals to EL CORREO. The University selected was SouthEastern Oklahoma State and in Ander’s words “it was a success.”
His start in college basketball was not what he wanted. The bad luck of the injuries was primed with the Bilbao. “I broke my meniscus in my first preseason,” he says. Beyond collapsing, the inside player took the opportunity to work on his physique, something that helped him gain muscle. Also, to top it off, he was selected as one of the top ten freshmen at his University, where he played another season before signing for Ohio University. Although the injuries continued to punish him, he points out that “I adapted very well to the new university, the first year I played less, but from the second I was a regular on the rotation.”
An unbeatable chemistry
At that moment, nostalgia made an appearance and the return home presented itself as an opportunity. “I already missed my people and also received numerous offers from Spain, so I decided to return,” he highlights. The offer that he liked the most was that of Óbila. «It is a great club with a hobby that they fall in love with. People are very devoted to the team. I was going down the street and they stopped me to take pictures of me, ”Ander Pérez points out about his former team. «I was sad to leave and luckily I was able to do it in a good way. I already wanted to go home and show what I have learned, “he adds.
“Getting to a new team is always complicated, but both Iñigo, who already knew him, and his colleagues have made the adaptation process very easy,” confesses Iñigo about his arrival at CB Santurtzi. “The dressing room we have formed is very good and the chemistry we have both on and off the pitch is unbeatable and that can be seen in the results,” he added. The mood and basketball situation of the purple ones is through the roof and a reflection of that is their first position in the EBA League. “We have our feet on the ground. Our goal is to achieve the results of last year and for the moment we are in that line ”, says Ander Pérez. The Bilbao pivot points out that they must continue working so that the results continue to arrive as they have been up to now: “This year there is a lot of level in the league.” CB Santurtzi continues with lead feet in search of the long-awaited promotion that narrowly escaped last season.
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