Witherspoon wants shot to play overseas
By JOHN DELL Winston-Salem Journal
Only die-hard Winston-Salem State basketball fans will remember Chris Witherspoon.
The 6-foot guard, appropriately nicknamed “Spoon”, spent two seasons with the Rams after a two-year career in junior college. He played sparingly while exhausting his two years of eligibility but the basketball dream hasn’t died yet.
Witherspoon, 26, earned his degree from WSSU in the spring and then embarked on reshaping his body and getting back into basketball shape for a shot at pro basketball.He found his way to a tryout in Raleigh with USA Select, an organization that was formed by a group of previous overseas players.
“I did pretty well in the tryout and they asked me back, and I’ll be going to another camp in Charlotte,” Witherspoon said. “Then, I’ll be part of a team that will go overseas and we are set to play something like 24 games in 26 days.”
The USA Select team and associate head coach Ricky Pitts, a former player at Appalachian State and Averett University, will play in games, and scouts from various overseas teams can see Witherspoon in action.
“It’s a great opportunity, and I really have nothing to lose,” said Witherspoon, who earned his degree in physical education and hopes to teach and coach basketball one day.
Until then, however, he’ll see if he can carve out a pro career overseas.
“We’ll depart for London for a whirlwind trip in September,” Pitts said. “We will have two teams (a combined 20 players) that are travelling over there, and they will participate in a few multi-national tournaments against teams from Ireland, Tunisia, Venezuela and France.”
Pitts said that the players will get to see England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Finland during their time on the USA Select trip.
Witherspoon, who hired a trainer in his hometown of Lenoir, weighs about 10 pounds less at around 170 than when he was at WSSU. His body fat is in the single digits, and he says he’s healthy.
“I feel great and I’m ready for this,” said Witherspoon who joins a long list of former WSSU players who have played pro ball overseas.
Some of the past former WSSU players who have played overseas or are still playing include Julian Murphy-Long, Jamal Durham, Brian Fisher, Paul Davis, Preston Ross, Darrell Wonge and Marcus Wells.
Witherspoon, who was part of the Rams CIAA championship team in 2012, says he knows he has a long way to go to land on a team overseas.
“When I finished playing ball at Winston I focused on getting my degree, and I didn’t play much basketball,” Witherspoon said. “But I started missing it so I saw this as a chance. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do.”
Coach Bobby Collins, who is now at Maryland-Eastern Shore, said that he wasn’t surprised that Witherspoon will get a shot. Collins recruited and coached Witherspoon for his two seasons at WSSU.
“I’m sure Chris wished he could have played more, but if you remember he had a heck of a game when we beat Shaw in the semifinals (of the CIAA Tournament),” Collins said.
Pitts said that Witherspoon’s attitude and commitment landed him a spot on the team.
“We were impressed with his overall play, but his conditioning was exceptional,” Pitts said. “He had a high court IQ, and his craftiness around the basket really opened some eyes at our camp…. He was clearly a leader, and pretty evident that he has been well coached.”