Basketball star Samuels is home

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

Jamaican basketball star Samardo Samuels, who recently completed his first season in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers, arrived in the island yesterday on vacation and is looking forward to enjoying some of his mother's cooking among other things over the next two weeks.

"I am just so happy to be home," said the powerfully built Samuels, who stands at six feet eight inches tall and weights 240 pounds."When I am away from Jamaica I miss every thing ... home, family, the friendliness and just about everything, including my mother's cooking."

Samuels, whose season was cut short by an injury to his right wrist, for which he had to do surgery, said he is now on the mend and with his rehabilitation going great, he is looking forward to the next season with a lot of high hopes and expectations.

"Once I started playing, things began falling in place and got better and better with each game before the injury," said the former Muschett High School player, who hails from Falmouth in Trelawny. "I quickly began to realise that I could match up to the big boys in the league and that gave me a lot of personal satisfaction."

Rewarding experience

With regards to his relationship with the coaches at Cleveland, Samuels said it was a most rewarding experience as he was able to meet the expectations of the coaching staff, who, he said, did not put a lot of pressure on him and was quite supportive and encouraging.

"The coaching staff was behind me all the way ... they did not put on too much pressure," noted Samuels. "All they asked of me was that I give them 100 per cent whenever I got on the court."

Playing against the big stars in the NBA has turned out to be a most important yardstick for Samuels, who said after coming up against him, many top players expressed surprise at his great strength and mobility.

"The NBA has the top 500 players in the world and we you get respect at that level, it says a lot," said Samuels. "I am happy with the way things went for me and I looking to the future with high expectations."

While he is home to rest and relax, Samuels plans to attend a few local FLOW National Basketball League western conference games and, if the opportunity presents itself, he intends to hold one or two coaching clinics.

"I am anxious to give back because this is where it all started for me," said Samuels. "Over time, I plan to go into the schools to talk to the kids and encourage them to treat their education seriously ... now that I am out there on the big circuit, I am realising more and more that a sound education is very good ... it helps in making good business decisions."