After an exceptional career as a leading scorer for Bowdoin men’s basketball, Lucas Hausman ’16 is moving up to the next level by playing professional basketball in Spain for the next year.
Hausman has been a key component of the Polar Bears’ offense for the past two years, being named NESCAC Player of the Year in 2015 and putting together an even more impressive senior season.
This year, his consistently high level of play enabled Hausman to pass the 1000-career-points threshold. With 581 points this season, he broke the program records for most points scored and average points per game over the course of a single season, leading the NESCAC in both categories.
Not only was he one of the best scorers in the history of the program, Hausman is one of the top scorers in recent NESCAC history as his remarkable 25.3 points per game this season was the highest average of any player since the NESCAC began conference play in 2000-01.
His exceptional performance over the last two years, in addition to his many accolades, allowed a future in professional basketball to become a reality.
“It’s always been an ideal thing, kind of like a dream in some ways, to be able to keep playing basketball after school is done,” said Hausman. “Definitely the last two years helped me think about my future differently. I kind of realized that this is something that I could actually do, that it could actually become a reality.”
At the end of his senior season, Hausman signed with an agent recommended to him by John Swords ’15 and Will Hanley ’12, both of whom are currently playing professional basketball abroad, and began the recruitment process.
“When basketball became a reality, it was kind of like this is going to be my one chance to do that for the rest of my life. It’s kind of a now or never type thing,” said Hausman. “I can’t go off to work for five years and then decide that I want to go and try to play basketball again, so I figured this is my only chance in my life to do this, so I might as well give it a try.”
Hausman signed to play for a year with Basket Villa de Mieres 2012, a team based just outside of the city of Oviedo in northern Spain. The team plays in the Española de Baloncesto Amateur league (EBA), which is the fourth tier of Spanish league play. Within the EBA, the teams are divided into ranked groups, which they can be promoted or demoted from based on their performance that season. BVM 2012 currently ranks third in Group AB, the second highest group in the EBA and the same group as Swords’ current team, Instituto Rosalia de Castro.
“In talking to my agent and John Swords too, it sounded like a pretty cool place to be, and they have a good basketball culture there,” said Hausman. “They work you hard, and right now they’re one of the top teams in the EBA. My goal is, hopefully, if I work hard and play well enough, to continue to move up through the different tiers of leagues over there.”
Hausman expects to bring his strong scoring talent to his new team, as well as grow into what he anticipates will be a more physical style of play. While Hausman hopes to progress through the Spanish leagues, he hasn’t set many expectations or bounds for his time abroad.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that there are limits for me,” said Hausman. “I would be open to going to other places. I think realistically I would stay in Europe; I don’t know if that necessarily means Spain or somewhere in the area, but I’m definitely open to exploring other places and other options if they arise.”
Continuing to improve his play will be the focus of his time there, but Hausman also looks forward to broadening his horizons and immersing himself in a foreign culture.
“I’ve lived in the United States my whole life, lived in New England my whole life, and I haven’t gone to too many other places, so I think it’s going to be a really exciting opportunity for me just to live in a different culture and see what the norms are there,” said Hausman.
The new culture and language aren’t the only changes Hausman faces. After four years of playing for Bowdoin, the graduating senior faces the jarring transition to playing with completely new teammates from very different backgrounds.
“It’s going to be a weird change for sure,” said Hausman. “I’m really going to miss playing with those guys every day because some of the best times of my life have been just getting to go and play pickup and mess around and have that team atmosphere with the guys that are currently on the team.”
While the end of his Bowdoin career is bittersweet, Hausman is looking to this new and interesting phase of his life with anticipation.
“I’m looking forward to it a lot,” said Hausman. “It’s going to be different, it’s going to be a cool experience and it’s going to be something that I’ll probably be able to look back on in 25 or 30 years and be really glad that I did it and that I took that shot.”