Bowling Green State University Athletics
Matela Headed To Germany
August 05, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 5, 2002
Bowling Green, Ohio - Len Matela is still a non-believer. In a few days he will be on German soil and working out in the pre-season training camp for a team in that country's top professional league, but the 6-9 former Bowling Green Falcon is having a hard time absorbing it all.
Matela, who finished his four-year BG career as one of the top scorers and rebounders in school history, has signed a contract to play for the Mitteldeutscher basketball club in the city of Weissenfels in the former East Germany.
"My sophomore year in high school I had a couple of good coaches who told me I could play pro and earn some money through basketball, but I didn't take it seriously," said Matela, who has the same hometown of Merrillville, Ind., as BG coach Dan Dakich.
"I thought about it more in college when coach Dakich would tell me I was taking money out of my own pocket if I didn't work hard. Those guys thought I could maybe earn a living at this if I was dedicated and determined, but I don't think the fact that it is all happening right now has really sunk in yet."
Matela traveled to Italy last month and played in a series of workouts in front of about 80 coaches and general managers from the various European leagues. Matela said he felt he performed well in the informal tournament held in conjunction with the workouts.
"There were times when I was one of the smaller guys on the floor - a lot of the players over there were bigger and wider than me - but I was relaxed and played pretty decent, I thought," Matela said.
His agent, Chicago-based Herb Rudoy, had teams from France, Germany, Italy and Poland contact him with an interest in Matela. Matela will be furnished with a comfortable home and an automobile as part of his deal with Mitteldeutscher. The pro season in Germany runs from September through March.
"It all came together really quickly, and when I got all of the details and saw how much I was going to get paid to play basketball - well I don't know how to react to it all," Matela said.
"I still feel like I'm in college and I should be getting ready for school to start. But this is my life now, and it is really exciting. I'm just having a hard time believing it all."
