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It only seems fitting that former University of Maine men’s basketball standout Troy Barnies would get his first chance at professional ball in Istanbul, Turkey.
It’s obvious a goofy kid from Auburn, Maine — population of just over 23,000 — would get up and move in a matter of hours to Europe’s third-largest metropolis, behind only London and Moscow.
It’s pertinent that Barnies, whose only previous time out of the country was a quick trip to Montreal would now try to coexist in a culture completely different from anything you’d find in the U.S., let alone Maine.
Barnies agrees.
“I’m a pretty open-minded guy when it comes to new things in my life,” Barnies said Saturday afternoon over the phone, less than 24 hours before a plane trip that would change his life. “I’m expecting a huge difference than here. I’m not expecting a lot of people to speak English. I’m expecting a whole new society — people dressing differently, different foods I’ll be eating — everything.”
After working on his game all summer, Barnies inked a deal with Turkish Basketball Second League team, Istanbulspor. Similar to soccer leagues, the top two clubs in the TB2L get promoted to the Turkish Premier Basketball League for the upcoming season.
Barnies has always taken the road less travleled.
A pigskin lover growing up, Barnies wanted to play college football until a growth spurt in middle school made him physically awkward, both on the hard-court and the grid iron.
“I was a football player growing up and always wanted to play football at the college level,” he said. “I got a growth spurt in seventh or eighth grade and I made the eighth-grade team, but I was a big goof and didn’t know what I was doing.”
After growing into himself, Barnies turned into a decent basketball player, eventually earning a starting spot for the Black Bears in his sophomore year.
Steadily improving throughout his collegiate career, Barnies excelled as a senior, averaging over 14 points and close to eight rebounds per game while being named to the America East Conference First Team.
As his college games dwindled, Barnies began to set his sights on continuing to play basketball, but this time as a career.
In early June, Barnies spent some time in Philadelphia and was able to work out for two NBA teams: the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics.
“At the beginning of June, I went down to Philadelphia for a month and a half with a bunch of guys from different schools, like Clemson and Morehead State, and made really good friends with guys,” Barnies said. “While I was there, I got a lot better playing against them.”
Barnies then took his game back to Maine, where he continued to work out while awaiting for a call from the agency representing him, Aretes Sports Agency.
When Barnies first spoke to me about playing abroad, he thought that the process would take him into June or July, but unusual circumstances with the upcoming NBA season — or lack thereof — delayed the process, as a number of NBA players have jetted to European and Asian countries to continue their play while the NBA figures out its labor mess.
“I think that’s why it came down to close to October until I got a job with a team,” Barnies said. “There’s so many teams trying to figure out who they can grab from the NBA. These organizations in Europe are shuffling a lot trying to get who they want. I started to think it was going to take a lot longer than it [already] has.”
Turkey has been a popular place for NBAers looking to go abroad. With some countries like China omitting an opt-out clause for stars to return to their NBA squads, other nations are basically renting NBA players until the lockout ends.
As of today, six players from the NBA last year have agreed to play in Turkey for the upcoming season, including former Celtic Semih Erden, Ersan Ilyasova from the Bucks, former All-Star Mehmet Okur, Darius Songalia, Sasha Vujacic and most notably, All-Star point guard Deron Williams.
Although Barnies would be chomping at the bit to D-up Okur, all these players secured jobs in the Turkish Premier League.
Barnies, on the other hand, is just thankful for a job right now.
“I’m pretty fortunate to get on a team now and secure a job,” he said. “My agent was telling me to get the first job out of the way because that’s usually the hardest one. Now I just have to prove myself to everyone.”
Barnies, who hopes to expand his game to some small forward — although “they know me as a four” — doesn’t exactly know what his salary is, and isn’t worried about it.
“I think what happens is, the more the team wins, the more I get paid,” Barnies said. “The more I play the more I get paid. I don’t know the beginning salary but my agent does. He’ll tell me as soon as I get there.
“I found out Friday morning, and I’ve been ecstatic,” Barnies said. “I leave [Sunday] morning.”
Barnies arrived in Istanbul Tuesday morning, according to his Facebook page. As he settles into a place he never saw himself visiting, learning a new culture he knows little about, Barnies wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I’m not too worried about it because I know it will be 100-percent worth it.”
Bangor Daily News