It’s a new era for the Niners and American rookie Dame Adelekun is right at the heart of it.
The 23-year-old North Carolina native has been must-see TV for Lloyd Gardner’s Surrey 89ers so far, with his dominant displays turning heads across the Super League Basketball landscape.
We sat down with the centre recently to discuss his and his team’s adjustment to life in the SLB.
“As a team I feel we’re just coming into our potential,” Adelekun said.
“We’re starting to understand our identity a lot better and what we need to do to win, what actions work best for what units, what sets we can run the best and succeed from, and generally we’re just building more chemistry.
“Getting Andrew [Lawrence] back is going to be huge for us and he’ll be back on the floor soon. Having that veteran experience will be vital and I feel like we can continue to take strides and build momentum.
“If we keep this going, we hope to build a recipe of what it will take for us to be successful. We have the talent to do it and win games at this level, so we feel like it’s more just a case of getting the intangible things down which is the biggest thing for us and the results will follow.
“Coach Lloyd [Gardner] has been a lot of fun to play for. A lot of the sets he draws up are very tactical and he knows the game at a very advanced level. He gives players a lot of freedom to express themselves. It’s fun to play for a coach that lets you rock out a little bit but he knows how to draws up a lot of good sets when we need them so it’s very enjoyable to play for him.”
Built by the Big Green
The latest in a growing line of Dartmouth College graduates to sample top-flight British basketball, Adelekun follows Taylor Johnson and London Lions star Aaryn Rai in making the transition from the Ivy League ball club to this level.
A former teammate of Rai’s at Dartmouth as well, Adelekun discussed how the British forward was actually instrumental in attracting him to the SLB, and the wider connections he has with players in the league.
“I don’t know Taylor [Johnson] personally, but I’m really close with Aaryn [Rai] – that’s my guy. He’s actually one of the main reasons I came to the Super League because when I was being recruited by teams here, I talked to him about the basketball, the culture and all of that and he gave me a lot of confidence that this would be a good move for me.
“It’s been great to see him do so well in his professional career, including in this country. He’s the king of the eurostep and at college we always used to call him ‘Deep’ because his full name is Aaryndeep, but I guess it works for his shooting as well! It’s great to have another Dartmouth alum here and his support has been huge for me.
“Basketball is crazy for how those connections manifest themselves in your career. Probably on every team in this league there’s somebody I’ve played with or against before, or they know somebody I’ve played with or against before. Basketball connects people in a really special way and it’s one of my favourite things about it.”
Finding his feet
Averaging almost a double-double through the Trophy group stages, Adelekun made an instant impact for Surrey and has carried his strong form into the start of the Championship campaign.
Discussing the transition to the professional game, the 6’9” centre detailed the process he has gone through in adapting in the opening months of the season.
“The biggest transition has been getting used to having more opportunity to make an impact, and that I’m going to be expected to make that impact when the time is right. It’s a little different to the scheme-based approach of college, but I’m enjoying the chance to grow.
“College basketball is very systemic where most colleges do the same thing, run the same defences, but here it’s more like real basketball where you’re using your skills and knowledge to help the team as best you can and it’s up to you to rise to that challenge and be effective.
“It’s a high-scoring league with a fast pace. The talent here is great as well. It feels close to an American style compared to other leagues in Europe, so that has been very helpful for me to transition. The crowds are rowdy too, so it’s been a lot of fun playing here and I’m loving it.”
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