Bouncing around the globe: Akeem Springs’ journey in basketball and his path to becoming a Bucc

Basketball has taken Akeem Springs around the world, from playing at his local park in Illinois to South Africa and now to Geraldton where he proudly dons the blue and yellow for the Buccaneers. Springs earliest memories of picking up a ball was going to the park as a kid with his brother and father’. Springs’ father was a professional trainer, creating the perfect introduction to the sport. Growing up in Waukegan, Illinois, Springs fell in love with sport, juggling both American football and basketball. Springs said he fell in love with the professionalism that sport brought to his life. “Just fell in love with sports, before I really focused on basketball,” the 31-year-old said. “Fell in love with training and developing my body.” At the age of 16, Springs was forced to make a choice and go one of two ways — down the path of American football or basketball. Springs made the hard decision when he found himself playing against the likes of Michael Jordan’s sons, Springs knew he was wanting to take basketball seriously. “We were playing teams like that growing up, and pretty much knew it was serious for me, going sophomore, junior year is when I kind of made that transition to say it’s just basketball,” Springs said. “From then on I locked in, got workouts in and took it a lot more serious.” Springs was approached by multiple colleges but soon became sick of the process and ended up committing to the University of Illinois. After one semester at the University of Illinois, Springs transferred to the University of Milwaukee before finishing his college journey at the University of Minnesota. Springs was then picked up by the Cleveland Charge in the G-League after a stellar showing at an opening training session. At the time Springs was unfit, carrying an injury but the coaching staff saw enough and signed the star guard to their list. Later moving to Utah to play for Salt Lake City (also in the G-League), Springs then explored his options internationally leading him to a short stint in Qatar for Al Gharata. Bouncing around the world has been something that he became accustomed to fairly quickly. After playing in Qatar, Springs made his way to Mexico before a stint in South Africa and then back to the United States where he played in the TBL for the Kokomo Bobkats. Looking for another change of scenery, Springs spoke to his agent who suggested Australia. From their chats, the pair concluded that while it wouldn’t be the biggest contract Springs would sign in his career, it was an important one that could lead him to better opportunities. “We sat down and looked at what I want to get out the out the rest of my career, because definitely I had some different leagues that might have had bigger salaries, but the basketball wasn’t as good,” Springs said. “I want to go play good basketball, because I still have my goal of playing basketball at the highest level, but I want to play good basketball. “We talked about it (coming to Australia). “My manager was like ‘Akeem, this might not be the biggest contract that we can get,’ but he felt like it was a good step for me because of the system that Geraldton plays in. “And that’s how we landed on Geraldton.” Springs hit the ground running after a day-and-a-half of travel. He was picked up from the airport by new teammate Mat Wundenberg and the two headed to a training session. Springs lit it up from the start and is now a fan favourite, something he is humbled to be a part of. “It’s humbling when I think about my journey, when I think about where I started, when I think about some of the challenges I faced with me and my family growing up,” Springs said. “I take it as a blessing, but I take the responsibility and I take it as something that is not a pressure. “It’s a joy to have that responsibility to be a leader, to be a guy that parents want their kids to be around and will possibly even want me to give wisdom. “Definitely the goal is to win the games, but to see those faces who look up to you and you can teach the kids life values, that’s the best part.” With six games left of the regular season and in the midst of a five-game winning streak, Springs has his sights on a championship, something he set out to do as soon as he landed in Geraldton. Springs said he placed great importance of helping his teammates achieve their best while also giving back to the loyal Buccs fans. “We have different guys that have different goals, I want them to be able to use this season to get closer to their goals, like even if we talk about Johny (Narkle),” Springs said. “I hope this season is one that pushes him to get all his NBL stuff, you know, if that’s what he wants. “I just see myself being so much more prepared for the rest of my career because of Geraldton. “But I just want to give this Buccs crowd, man, like you said, I just want to give them a show. “Just give the fans the show, make this be something that fans, teammates, staff, everyone that’s in Geraldton, something that they remember and hopefully all the way to a championship.” AKEEM SPRINGS’ JOURNEY Northern Illinois (NCAA) Milwaukee Panthers (NCAA) Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA) Cleveland Charge (G League) Salt Lake City (G League) Al Gharata (Qatar) Tijuana Zonkeys (Cibacopa Mexico) Cape Town Tigers (South Africa) Kokomo Bobkats (TBL, USA) Geraldton Buccaneers (NBL1 West)