By Richy Zajic — Staff Writer
Whether he’s playing overseas or here at San Jose State, junior forward Craig LeCesne puts everything into the sport of basketball.
LeCesne was born in Malmo, Sweden but moved to the United States and lived there until he was 8. He then moved back to Sweden before returning to the U.S. for high school.
LeCesne has had basketball dreams since he was a child in Sweden. Although the sport does not get as much attention there, that has not affected his love for the game.
“It’s always been a huge part of my life. It’s not as big over there but we have a lot of good players, we have a lot of players playing Division I basketball now, some in the NBA,” he said. “It’s definitely gaining popularity over there for sure.”
According to LeCesne, his personal experience and basketball training was different than that of players that solely played in the States.
“Growing up playing internationally, they want everybody to do everything,” LeCesne said. “You just work on all the fundamentals, that’s why you see somebody like [Denver Nuggets center] Nikola Jokic. He’s 7-foot and can throw no-look passes and get triple-doubles.”
The junior views it as an advantage on the court. Being able to play outside of what a big man’s role typically is, he believes is beneficial for himself and the team as a whole.
At a lengthy 6-foot-9, LeCesne’s size allows him to easily see over the defense and make better reads that lead to buckets for the Spartans.
“I think this helps me,” LeCesne said. “I play guard and just growing up working on all that instead of just being boxed in I think really helped me.”
After playing his freshman year at Pepperdine and his sophomore year at San Bernardino Valley College, LeCesne says he took his talents to SJSU because of its coaching staff.
“I was at a junior college and coach [Jean] Prioleau was one of the guys that recruited me the hardest,” LeCesne said. “I felt like he was a genuine guy. He didn’t promise me anything.”
“Coach Prioleau has been working on a lot of perimeter stuff with me, going over the reads… You have everything you need here. it’s been good.”
Head coach Prioleau knew from the start that LeCesne was someone that he wanted on his team because of the skill set that he had developed playing internationally. Prioleau sees him as a key piece in what he is trying to build here at SJSU.
“He’s 6-foot-9 and he’s skilled,” Prioleau said, “He’s a very versatile player.”
Coach Prioleau wants his team to “trust the process” and he believes that LeCesne can be a pivotal feature of this process.
“He can help because of his size, his basketball I.Q., and he can play the one, two, three and the four,” said Prioleau.
Prioleau recognizes that LeCesne has played at many different levels and that there is a transition that he is going through while he is still in his first season here at SJSU.
“I think he’s growing and he’s learning,” Prioleau said. “He’s been at different levels, so he’s going through the transitioning process, but we have 10 new guys that are going through that too.”
With the skills that LeCesne has learned internationally, as well as the skills that he is still learning here at SJSU, he is hoping to take his basketball career to the highest possible level.
“I want to take basketball as far as I can. Obviously my goal is the NBA, or I’d love to play overseas, just to be able to play the game,” he said. “I love it and if I could do it as a job that’d be great.”
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