Son 80 kilometers that separate the campus from the Loyola Maryland University – located outside of Baltimore – of the nearest NBA pavilion, the one of the Washington Wizards. NCAA and NBA, two universes so close yet so far away. Loyola Maryland’s basketball program, which is over 100 years old, has seen Saints Aldama became the third player ‘Greyhound’ of all the history that reached the NBA, following the steps of Mike Morrison in 1989 and Andy O’Donnell in 1949. Therefore, it is not surprising that the entire squad traveled to Capital One Arena this Friday to see Aldama in action in his first month as a ‘rookie’.
Santi Aldama with the players from Loyola University
“It is a very special day for me. They are my friends. I am fulfilling my dream, and being able to be with them while I live it is very exciting,” says Aldama, after spending some time greeting and talking with his former colleagues during the pre-game warm-up. Despite the Grizzlies’ busy schedule – to prepare for the game and for other NBA commitments – Aldama organized to dine with his former coaches and eat with some of his closest former teammates.
It is a very special day for me. They are my friends. I am fulfilling my dream, and being able to be with them while I live it is very exciting
The Canarian player, who is having his minutes on the court, he values that the Grizzlies’ coaching staff has experience – either playing or training – in different parts of the world (United States, Serbia, Spain). “That international mix, together with the culture that is breathed in the franchise, makes all this add up to having a great group, which is what we have this year, and I think we will do well, “he says.
The great game of the Spanish Santi Aldama to make history in the NCAA
The first Spanish player to join the NBA since the NCAA is clear that “everyone has their own path. I think you have to take it day by day, work hard every day, which is the most important thing, pursue your dream. For them, who are in university life, it is studying and training; all you can do. and always give the maximum, and in the end everything will come. Patience and to work “advises Aldama.
Each one has its own way. I think you have to take it day by day, work hard every day, which is the most important thing, pursue your dream.
Faure y Dike
The Valencian Alonso Faure and Malaga’s Golden Dike They are respectively in their second and third years as ‘Greyhounds’. Last season was very unusual, with games behind closed doors and an empty campus. That is why the return to a certain normality constitutes a much more positive context.
Santi Aldama talks with his former partner in Loyola, the Spaniard Alonso Faure
Faure values the experience of having been able to share a dressing room all last season with Aldama. “It is incredible that a teammate of mine, a friend of mine, is in the NBA. I hope I can follow in his footsteps some day,” he confesses. From Aldama’s stage at Loyola, Faure highlights that in addition to his inches of height, he is a very versatile player. “He knows how to shoot, he knows how to play in the low post, he knows how to bounce the ball, he is a good passer. In training he gave his best. He always tried to encourage the team. He was the leader of the team,” he says.
He knows how to shoot, he knows how to play low post, he knows how to bounce the ball, he’s a good passer … It’s incredible that a friend of mine is in the NBA “
Family
Various moments during the visit of the ‘Greyhounds’ make it clear that the relationship with some of them is almost familiar. The logistical circumstances of the pandemic meant that, in Loyola, Aldama spent time with the families of some colleagues, as well as with the family of Ivo Simovic (the assistant coach of Serbian origin and with experience in Spain), who was the main responsible for Aldama’s landing at Loyola as part of your training plan. Simovic, who does not hide the satisfaction that one of his pupils has reached the NBA, believes that Aldama, “as soon as he can, should try to combine professional basketball with his studies, since he is a very good student.” The Loyola technicians, even in that, also behave like a real family.
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