Michael Eric is knocking on the door of EuroCup history. The Turk Telekom Ankara center is one win away from joining the exclusive list of players to have won the 7DAYS EuroCup twice. His first crown came five years ago with Darussafaka Istanbul.
Eric's path to basketball stardom was unlike that traveled by most other EuroCup greats. Born in Nigeria, soccer was his first choice of sports and Jay Jay Okocha was his first sports idol. A growth spurt and a trip to see his brother Stephen in Delaware, USA, back in 2004 changed his life. He started playing basketball in high school and went on to play college basketball for four years at Temple University.
Eric started his professional career in the then-called D-League and played in Greece, Italy and Spain before joining Darussafaka in 2017. There, playing under legendary coach David Blatt, Eric took his game to the next level.
"I just remember having great teammates. I remember being part of a great coaching staff, David Blatt and his group, and it surprised me how detailed we were, how efficient it was listening to him, being a competitor. And the results came out to be a championship," Eric said.
"And when I look back at those times, it's growth for me because it helped me understand to win, you have to sacrifice certain things. You have to be in certain positions as a competitor. You have to just sacrifice to win at that level. So seeing that happened five years ago and being in a position completely different from what I'm used to just proves the point that you have to sacrifice something to be a part of a good team."
The first positive consequence of winning the EuroCup was playing the 2018-19 EuroLeague with Darussafaka. Eric proved he belonged at that level by averaging 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 29 games, playing less than 21 minutes per night.
