After six hours on a train, three flights and 14 hours of layovers, new Vancouver Volcanoes guard Cameron McCaffery was back home in the Pacific Northwest.
It was roughly 46 hours in total.
“It was a nightmare. My city has an airport. I don’t know why on the way back they booked me somewhere else,” McCaffery said.
His city before coming back home was Batumi, Georgia, nestled along the Black Sea. That’s the Republic of Georgia, not the State next to Alabama and Florida.
“It must have been cheaper to fly out of the capital city,” he figures. “It was a long, long trip.”
After giving himself a day to recover, he was signed and at the Volcanoes Tuesday practice.
McCaffery first saw the Volcanoes play last year when he was visiting in the summer in between working out with his college coach back at Augustana College in South Dakota while trying to get in shape to play in Europe.
McCaffery was invited by former Volcanoes player and 2013 IBL MVP Chehales Tapscott. Both went to Century High School in Hillsboro and have been best friends since high school.
“I asked him next year could you maybe be pick me up on the team? And he said ‘yeah, for sure.’ And I just emailed the coach and he told me to come to a practice and we’ll go from there” McCaffery said.
And on Saturday, McCaffery will presumably play his first game for the Volcanoes against the Salem Sabres at Clark College.
In just his second day he was already running the offense, something which he is very comfortable with after playing point guard in high school and college.
For McCaffery — like many other players who are trying to make it on the periphery of professional basketball — he’s just trying to improve to be ready to earn another place in Europe next season after finally breaking into the ranks.
“It was my first year out of a Division II so it’s more difficult to get a good job when you’re a Division II player,” he said. “In Europe all they know is Division I. You kind of have to prove yourself but once you get over there and you can play at that level it will open up doors to you.”
But, thanks to YouTube, he got his start in Europe in Italy’s fifth division.
“I asked my coach in October to put (a highlight video) on YouTube and he put it on,” he said. “Literally within a week an agent — not my agent — but another one contacted me and said there is a team in Italy that wants you.”
That team in Italy didn’t turn out to be what he expected, but he put up good numbers and quickly he was bought out by Basketball Club Batumi of the Georgia-Superleague, much to his delight.
“I hate playing basketball when it’s at a low level. That’s why when I was in Italy I wasn’t enjoying myself. They didn’t understand defensive rotations, offensive spacing, things like that. There weren’t 6-foot-11 guys that can protect the rim.”
According to Eurobasket.com, McCaffery was the fourth-leading scorer for Batumi and played the fifth most minutes for the fifth-place team in the league. He also enjoyed the beach right along the Black Sea for his four months in Batumi.
With the Volcanoes and IBL, McCaffery feels as though he’s found a level of play that can help him earn a contract for next year’s professional season in Europe, something that isn’t easy in the Northwest.
“I just want to get used to playing at a level with big strong guys,” he said. “Over the summer it can be kind of difficult where you live. I had guys on my team from Chicago and New York and those guys can go anywhere and find a good game. It’s not as easy to get into a gym with 10 guys that are all experienced basketball players with skill and strength up here.”
After a long season of two-a-day practices — mixed in with some time on the beach and the boardwalk — McCaffery has found something that he hopes allows him to simultaneously be close to home as well as get better to earn another chance for another job doing what he loves in Europe.
“I just love playing. I just want a smooth transition and to keep getting better.”
