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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Almanson to Play in Europe
August 24, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 24, 2005
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Josh Almanson has taken the next step in his basketball career. The former standout at Bowling Green High School, who averaged 17.2 points a game for the Bowling Green Falcons last season, left Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 23) for Lisbon, Portugal.
He will be playing for Benfica, a sports club which owns soccer, basketball, men's volleyball and handball teams.
"I'm very excited," Almanson said in a telephone interview Tuesday morning. "My agent told me there was a good situation in Portugal and I said let's go ahead and do it. It all fell into place at one time.
"It's more different than tough (to leave Bowling Green), just because I've never gone to live in another country before," Almanson added. "I'm not sure what to expect, I'm just looking at it as a different experience and I'll probably learn a lot."
Dan Dakich, the Bowling Green Falcons' head coach, is excited about Almanson's opportunity.
"He's got a good contract in a very, very good league," Dakich said. "He's going to the best team in the best situation. He has a really, really good deal.
"It's a little bit like (Keith) McLeod (now with the Utah Jazz). When McLeod went over there, he was going to the right league for him to get done what he needed to get done and Josh is doing the same thing."
Benfica made the best offer, combined with the best basketball situation, Almanson said. In addition to his salary, he will be provided with a place to live and a car while in Lisbon.
"I might be a little undersized to play center over there so I'll be playing both forward positions," Almanson said. "I've worked out all summer and I feel in shape and ready to go."
Almanson said he talked about living and playing basketball in Europe with Len Matela, Shane Kline-Ruminski and several other former Falcons who have had that experience.
"I tried to pick up some tips in terms of what to take and what to expect over there," he said.
At Bowling Green High School, Almanson was a second-team All-Ohio pick as a senior and finished his career as the Bobcats' leading scorer with 1,256 points.
With the Falcons, Almanson had a breakout senior season earning first-team All-Mid-American Conference honors while ranking in the top 10 in scoring, field goal and free throw shooting percentage and blocked shots in the MAC. Almanson finished his college career with 1,136 points.
Almanson will be facing at least one familiar opponent overseas. Ben Reed, a former player at Western Michigan, is in the same league in Portugal, Almanson said.
