Former Weber State sharpshooter Scott Bamforth content with playing in Spain
Weber State guard Scott Bamforth shoots against North Dakota in Ogden.
Scott Bamforth
”Catching up with the ‘Cats” tracks Weber State basketball alumni to find out where they are and what they’re doing now. First is Scott Bamforth, who is still playing in Europe.
Former Weber State shooting guard Scott Bamforth recently wrapped up his third year playing professional basketball overseas with BC Sevilla in the Spanish ACB League, where he averaged 12.5 points per game, shooting 44.5 percent from 3-point range with 2.4 assists per game.
The team finished the season with a record of 14-20 and missed the playoffs. While that may seem like a disappointment, Bamforth believes otherwise, considering the circumstances.
“It was a good season,” he said. “For us to finish where we did is actually really good. It may seem like not making the playoffs is really bad, but in our league, it’s actually good. You look at teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona and they have so much money, so they get all of the best Spanish and European players.”
The ACB League is considered the most competitive league in Europe and many players make the jump from the ACB to the NBA.
CATCHING UP WITH THE ‘CATS
Read about more Weber State basketball alumni in our ongoing series
Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks is one of those players, a rising NBA star who played with Bamforth on BC Sevilla.
“He was really skinny, but as soon as I saw him I knew he was going to be really good,” Bamforth said. “We became really close. Playing with Damian Lillard I always knew that he was going to be a really good NBA player. With Kristaps, you could also tell that he was going to be a really good NBA player.”
“It’s fun to watch another friend of mine going and doing really good things in the NBA,” he said.
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The two plan to work out together this summer in Latvia.
Bamforth has been given opportunities to showcase his talent in NBA summer leagues but said he is content with his situation in Spain.
“I know that I could play in the NBA,” Bamforth said. “I think I shoot it well enough and I know how to play basketball. Maybe I’m not as athletic as most of the guys, but everywhere I’ve been, they’ve always said that I’m not athletic. In every league and everything I’ve done I’ve been successful.”
“If (the NBA) was an option, I would take it, but it’s never been a real option,” he continued. “For me, there’s no point for me to play in the summer league when I’m making great money overseas.”
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for Bamforth in Spain. After his first year with Sevilla, then named Cajasol, the team came under new ownership that stripped the team down to the base with intentions of a full rebuild.
The head coach at the time, Aíto García Reneses, was fired. Reneses is a renowned coach in Spain who coached NBA players such as Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Ricky Rubio.
If players could be cut, they were. All but three players were terminated from the team, and Bamforth spent a season playing with UCAM Murica in the same league.
“The American owner didn’t really have any experience, but he wanted to do things his way, so he got rid of everybody that he could,” Bamforth said. “In my contract there was an option, so he cut me. They only kept three players because he couldn’t cut them because they had contracts. They rebuilt and the year I didn’t play they were really bad.”
“Now the owner got out of there. The old owner got the team back and as soon as they did, they called me and they wanted me back,” he said.
Bamforth’s return to Sevilla was lauded by the team, which released promotional material focused on the shooting guard’s return.
The Wildcat great said he stays in touch with his former teammates and coaches on a regular basis.
Bamorth and his wife, Kendra, are raising their two sons, Kingzton and Jaxzton in Spain, where they both go to school.
“I think Kingzton knows more Spanish than me,” Bamforth said. “I don’t really study it. I know all of the basketball terms and I talk on the basketball court, but with the conversation I understand when someone’s talking to me, but I can’t really speak too much.”
Contact sports reporter Brandon Garside at bgarside@standard.net, on Twitter @BrandonGarside and on Facebook.com/BrandonGarsideSE.
