ZS: What is the basketball culture like in England and how do you envision growth of the game over there?
NM: Culture-wise, I think we work harder because we have to. The fact that there is not much exposure there and the fact that were so far away from America, it demands that we work harder. The NBA has steadily becoming popular over there, due to the fact that the NBA now has regular season games in London, England. This past year, the Knicks played and I remember Enes Kanter elected not to play because there was a warrant out for his arrest. I was fortunate enough to see the Boston Celtics and the 76ers play against each other. I saw guys like Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving, J.J. Redick, and others.
ZS: What intrigued you to want to pursue a career in basketball as a video coordinator? How did the opportunity come about?
NM: So initially, I planned on coming to America to play college basketball. Unfortunately, I sustained a broken ankle and so that shattered my dream of being a college and professional basketball player. The coach at my Academy in England (Plymouth Raiders) was additionally the head coach of their professional team. His name was Jay Marriot. Coach Marriot invited me to be the manager.
I did that for a year. He was actually let go after a losing season and then the new coach, coach Darrell Corletto, he took me on as an assistant coach and a video coordinator. I did all the scouting, did all the scouting reports, did all the video sessions, and just became infatuated with it. I fell in love with coaching and the video component of it all.
ZS: How would you sum up experience working at Scotland Campus Sports, being part of a historic year which saw the Knights go 36-2 and garner a berth in the prep national championship game?
NM: It’s really been amazing experience to be around such high level guys like Clarence Nadolny (Texas Tech) and Karim Coulibaly (Pitt) and just seeing the high level of basketball over here in the states. Seeing how well Clarence played under high pressure circumstances, seeing the hard drives he finished and the contested shots, it was no surprise his stock shot up the way it did. Yet the unique thing about coach Chaney is he developed the whole team, so that any player who got in the game could hit a big momentum shot or take a charge. Playing 11 guys really was a difference maker. It opened my eyes to what hard, disciplined, uptempo prep basketball is like. Especially coming from England, where the pace of play and the athleticism is not the same.
The competition within our conference, especially when you consider teams with Mount Zion and an electrifying guard in Ayinde Hikim (LaSalle) and just everyone on our team buying into the family atmosphere. It was really special how welcome I felt and the team camaraderie I got to be apart of, especially when you consider I came in during January. It felt like I was there since the beginning of the season.
ZS: What are your plans moving forward, do you want to stay in America?
NM: Absolutely, I want to continue to work for coach Chaney. Eventually, I want to realize my dream of finding a college coaching job and being able to recruit the states and the top level players. I love soccer and played since I was 14, because that’s our national sport in England. For me, however, basketball was really more special.
