Former Indiana guard Nick Zeisloft has spent time in the G-League as well as overseas since leaving Indiana four years ago. The former sharpshooting guard most recently played for Iberostar Tenerife in Liga ABC, Spain’s top league. Before he could play a single minute, however, play was halted due to COVID-19.
Expected to play a major role this year, he was finally able to get back on the court when Europe began to open up.
"It was great but the process took some time," Zeisloft said on Indiana Sports Beat. "There were individual workouts when people would be on one side of the court and the other person on the other. Then 5-on-0 workouts... then 5-on-5 and we started to think 'wow we are actually going to do this thing'. It was a great tournament put on in Valencia and being one of the first leagues back, it was something cool, something special to say that. Our team didn't do as well as we wanted but it was still special."
While the former IU guard was able to showcase his skills this year, because the lack of a true season and the uncertainty moving forward, Zeisloft found himself as a free agent after the season ended. Despite that, he is ready for the next challenge.
"I don't know, I'm hoping to sign a contract here whenever it comes. In the basketball world you have to learn to be patient and everything comes at the right time," Zeisloft said. "I had to wait 3 months before playing my first game. I was two days away from playing my first game when things first started to shutdown here in Europe."
With the lack of leagues starting up, Zeisloft will have to use that patience for a while. Though the NBA is beginning to resume play this month, the G-League cancelled the rest of its season and with 'The Basketball Tournament' the only other league in the U.S. going on, there aren't a lot of options at the moment. Due to that, Zeisloft is just trying to adjust to another offseason, taking all of the knowledge he's gained up to this point and putting it to work.
"I'm still only a week, not even two weeks back at this point. Still trying to figure out what workouts I'm going to be doing. Staying mobile and keeping mobility right," Zeisloft added. "It's a long season and you have to be smart with how you work your body... I'm not old but im not young, so I just have to be smart."
On the TBT topic, Zeisloft almost made his first appearance this year but timing and the fact that it wasn't a true IU alumni team made him rethink things.
"It is a fun tournament to play in and who wouldn't want to win $1 million?... Just a lot going on," Zeisloft said. "I just had to make the smart decision right now but who knows what happens for next year.
"It would be awesome," Zeisloft said of starting an IU team. "It makes me think about it even more when my buddy Michael Latulip tried to get me on the Illinois team. It's interesting my home-state now finally wants me to play for the home-team. But it's all good because I went to the right school and made the right decision with IU [back then]."
To listen to the interview in its entirety, click on the tweet below.
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