Mangas Lands First Job in Overseas League
September 2, 2021 at 1:44 a.m.
Mangas Lands First Job in Overseas League
By Chip Davenport-
Mangas will, instead, ply another skill he’s been honing, playing professional basketball in Prague, Czech Republic for USK Praha (the local name and pronunciation for the ancient Central European city).
The Warsaw Tiger who was an integral part of a cohesive team advancing to the 2016 IHSAA Class 4A semi-state contest, matriculated to Indiana Wesleyan University’s NAIA basketball program and rewrote big chunks of its record books. Now his first employer out of college, USK Praha, offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the local star whose off-court character is as highly regarded as his play on the hardwood.
Mangas’s NBA workout travels and travails included stops to Cleveland, Detroit, and Indianapolis. The 2020-2021 season’s Bevo Francis winner went from day trip drives to NBA franchises among cities in a familiar region to a red eye flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Central Europe.
“This is my second full day here,” Mangas noted. “It’s definitely not like U.S. cities, from the streets to the hills, to the architecture.”
Overseas professional basketball offers perquisites along with their cash contracts for the athletes they sign. Mangas discussed some interesting perquisites during a brief phone call with the Times-Union.
“I’m provided an apartment about two minutes away from the gym,” Mangas mentioned regarding accommodations. “There is a restaurant who has a good relationship with the team. I can have two meals a day there, or I can cook at home if I want.”
Prague is a city of 1.3 million people whose altitudes range from a low of 580 feet up to 1,310 feet. The undulating hills offer a good cardio workout whether you’re walking around the city, cycling to your destination, or working out beyond the confines of the gym. The city has, for centuries, served as an attraction for its architecture, and it was a leading Central European industrial revolution location.
The adjustments to a new continent are abundant, but Mangas’s teammates and coach have immediately, in fact in less than 72 hours, begun to show the Tiger and Wildcat alum around the workings of life on and off the court.
“I have very welcoming teammates mostly around my age,” Mangas remarked. “They all speak English, although for almost all of them it’s not their first language.”
USK Praha’s head coach, Josh King (age 32), is an American whose direction and guidance won’t require translation, either. Mangas mentioned his coach is accessible, and the head coach has a good relationship with the team’s sporting director (U.S. equivalent to a team’s general manager).
The 6’4” guard will continue at the guard position, and USK Praha will play all their games within the Czech Republic’s thirteen-team league traveling almost entirely by bus. The team travels outside of the country only for preseason games.
Mangas will, instead, ply another skill he’s been honing, playing professional basketball in Prague, Czech Republic for USK Praha (the local name and pronunciation for the ancient Central European city).
The Warsaw Tiger who was an integral part of a cohesive team advancing to the 2016 IHSAA Class 4A semi-state contest, matriculated to Indiana Wesleyan University’s NAIA basketball program and rewrote big chunks of its record books. Now his first employer out of college, USK Praha, offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the local star whose off-court character is as highly regarded as his play on the hardwood.
Mangas’s NBA workout travels and travails included stops to Cleveland, Detroit, and Indianapolis. The 2020-2021 season’s Bevo Francis winner went from day trip drives to NBA franchises among cities in a familiar region to a red eye flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Central Europe.
“This is my second full day here,” Mangas noted. “It’s definitely not like U.S. cities, from the streets to the hills, to the architecture.”
Overseas professional basketball offers perquisites along with their cash contracts for the athletes they sign. Mangas discussed some interesting perquisites during a brief phone call with the Times-Union.
“I’m provided an apartment about two minutes away from the gym,” Mangas mentioned regarding accommodations. “There is a restaurant who has a good relationship with the team. I can have two meals a day there, or I can cook at home if I want.”
Prague is a city of 1.3 million people whose altitudes range from a low of 580 feet up to 1,310 feet. The undulating hills offer a good cardio workout whether you’re walking around the city, cycling to your destination, or working out beyond the confines of the gym. The city has, for centuries, served as an attraction for its architecture, and it was a leading Central European industrial revolution location.
The adjustments to a new continent are abundant, but Mangas’s teammates and coach have immediately, in fact in less than 72 hours, begun to show the Tiger and Wildcat alum around the workings of life on and off the court.
“I have very welcoming teammates mostly around my age,” Mangas remarked. “They all speak English, although for almost all of them it’s not their first language.”
USK Praha’s head coach, Josh King (age 32), is an American whose direction and guidance won’t require translation, either. Mangas mentioned his coach is accessible, and the head coach has a good relationship with the team’s sporting director (U.S. equivalent to a team’s general manager).
The 6’4” guard will continue at the guard position, and USK Praha will play all their games within the Czech Republic’s thirteen-team league traveling almost entirely by bus. The team travels outside of the country only for preseason games.
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