The vet

By Jim den Hollander

wde-sports@capitalnewspapers.com

At the end of another long professional season - this year an all-star campaign with the German Bundesliga, Brant Bailey is back in town. On Wednesday afternoon, he returned to his own roots, providing some of the opposition for the WIAA Division 2 Southern all-Stars as they prepared for their Saturday showdown contest in Madison.

The great thing about the WDHS Hall of Famer who has played pro basketball from as near as Rockford, but more usually, in European pro leagues for the past decade, is, it isn't hard to tell he still plays the game for fun.

Once again, Bailey and his buddies from his UW-Stevens Point days, captured the 'Top-Gun' division of the Laina Bailey 3-on-3 tournament in town last weekend and garnered the top prize - a T-shirt.

In a town that pretty much puts basketball players at or near the top of its local heros list, Bailey is a great success story and was surely a role model for players from the 2006-07 Sectional championship team that played alongside him Wednesday.

The goal for the day was to provide some opposition for the South all-Stars including 2009 WDHS graduate, Jade Royston and head coach Brad Rohling who is an assistant coach alongside River Valley's Jeff Johnson.

This past season, Bailey helped the Dusseldorf Giants of the German Bundesliga to a 12th place overall showing in the 18-team loop, well ahead of a bottom two spot which means relegation from the 'Elite' Division to the 'First' Division but, with a 14-20 overall record, the team was also four wins shy of the eighth and final playoff spot.

However, the team was the fourth highest scoring club in the league overall, Bailey leading the way with a little over 11 points per game scoring average and finishing as the 33rd leading scoring in the league.

Bailey was honored with a spot in the all star game in January, but said he wasn't sure if this was his best statistical season ever.

"They all kind of ran together," admitted the pro from JustAgame Fieldhouse while warming up on Wednesday. However, he clearly looks at a successful season more in terms of a team than his own stats.

"It was a new club in a new town. They're just starting to put together the pieces. Hopefully we can build on what we started. But, they have great support and a brand new stadium...they're doing a good job."

While the mentor role is common for Bailey in town, he is now holding down a leadership role on his pro team as well.

"I was the oldest guy by five years," said Bailey adding, "That's very new for me. It's all college guys, said the 32-year-old leader. A big reason for the change is new import rules, allowing the pro teams to carry as many American team members as they want. Many European Leagues until this season used players of their own nationality except for 2-3 imports.

While "its nice to be wiser and older," Bailey said the younger generation keeps him on his toes.

"They have endless energy in practice," said Bailey.

While he has bounced around a fair bit in terms of location, there is one constant in place for Bailey.

"This is going on my fourth season with the same coach (Head coach Achim Kuczmann), said Bailey. "The whole organization, the coaches and the coaching staff, all moved...so we're still the Giants (the team formerly played in Leverkusen). But the coach, yeah, I would finish out my career if he'll have me there."

Bailey said the coach has a rich history in the league and is easy to get along with.

"He's an ex-player in the same league. He was an all star when he played and he's a player's coach, he's kind of like Phil Jackson. He doesn't get real mad or emotional, but he's always there to keep you on track."

Bailey said he thinks the Giants are a player away from being a playoff team and he thinks he knows who that player is.

"We just didn't have the money to go after a big guy," said Bailey. "Like a Nate Fox, my buddy (they played together at UW-Stevens Point). If they could get him to come back or we could get a big center, we'd be great."

It's not hard for locals to keep up on Bailey anymore with both a league and a team Web site online - just 'Google' it. It's also easier for him to keep up on the local happenings as well.

"The first time I went over, you actually had to buy an international calling plan, you knew, then you would maybe call once

a week

"Now these young kids come over and they have internet sites and they can talk in real time on the internet. I think it just makes it easy for the young guys to adapt."

Bailey said he was one of the thousands who saw Jade Royston's now infamous game winning shot from half-court to win the Regional championship against River Valley so, he is keeping up on the local program as well.

Clearly, the basketball program and sports in general is more successful in town from the 90s when Bailey went to school. While there were some amazing athletes at the school in that time, team wise, it was a bit of a dark period for a school that possibly didn't focus as much on sports.

"It's just night and day between the facilities and the accessibility to the kids," said Bailey.

"When I was there, you know, I tell the story, I got suspended for shooting (hoops) before school, you know...sneaking in the gym and shooting.

Now, you've got some of those coaches that will come up and open it for the kids any time and the weight room is open with those facilities."

Don't get him wrong, Bailey certainly holds no grudge against his alma mater. On the contrary, he is there to help the kids and the school has more than made up for his school time suspension, throwing the doors open to Bailey to use the weight room on many occasions.

JustAgame doesn't hurt either.

"If we had this facility around when I was young, us kids would have been up here all day every day," said Bailey.

Bailey will be back in town for a few months and will return for the second year on his two-year contract with the Duseldorf-based team for the 2009-10 season, a 34-game campaign running from October until early May, although he hopes next season will continue along to playoffs.