German basketball player's hoop dreams take him to Canada

In partnership with Mount Royal University's Bachelor of Communication-Journalism programand theCalgary Journal,CBCCalgary is publishing a series profiling some of the immigrants and refugees who moved here and how they're helping shape ourcity.

Max Eisele has always had a passion for basketball and even played professionally in his native Germany, but the European education system wouldn't let him pursue both a degree and a basketball career. He moved to Canada to get the best of both worlds.

Eisele was born and raised in Ulm, a town in southern Germany with a population of about 120,000. His love of basketball started by playing for fun with his father while they were on vacation.

At first, he wasn't able to turn that love into something more because Ulm didn't have any basketball training programs for children. That changed when he turned nine and the town got its own basketball academy.

When Eisele first started playing at the academy he got "dumped" into being a point guard because he was young, and small. As he got older, he grew a lot. But he didn't grow out of the position he came to love.

Big leagues

In his teens, Eisele started attending the Urspring basketball academy, a boarding school located 30 minutes from Ulm. It was here where he would get his first taste of professional basketball.

At the time, Urspring's team was playing in ProA German's second-tier league.

Eisele remembers feeling nervous when he came off the bench during his first game. At only 15, he wasn't sure if he was old enough to be playing at that level.

Right after coming into the game, he threw an assist to a teammate, settling his nerves. Shortly after, he scored his first basket. It was a "huge experience."

Eisele knew he wanted to come to North America to continue his basketball career, while attending university.

"It's very difficult in Germany, or like Europe overall, because we don't have college systems. So, school and basketball are always separated," he said.

The road to Canada

Eisele wanted to go to the United States and play in the NCAA. However, it didn't work out.

"I was talking to a couple of colleges but it was more like interest things, and I would have had to fly out and actually play," he said.

Eisele decided to stay in Germany for one more season. That's when an old friend told him about the University of Calgary.

Lars Schluter, currently in his fourth season with the Dinos, was friends and teammates with Eisele in Ulm.

It's very difficult in Germany, or like Europe overall, because we don't have college systems. So, school and basketball are alwaysseparated.- Max Eisele

Schluter helped convince Eisele that coming to Canada would be a good option for him.

"I just told him that I had a really good time here in Calgary, and our team is really good, and we're up there, we're competing," said Schluter.

Eisele knew right away that coming to the U of C would be a good choice for him.

"Before I came here I watched some of Lars and the team's games, and I like what coach told me. I like how the team reacted with each other how they played. I mean it's higher level of basketball over here."

Eisele signed with Calgary early in his final season with Urspirng, and began playing with the Dinos in the 2016-17 season.

"We used Lars to help recruit, obviously. We felt that Lars was having a good experience here and he could at least pass that onto Max. I skyped with Max a couple of times to have conversations with him" says Dinos head coach Dan Vanhooren

Transition

Eisele, who is studying kinseolgy and wants to go to med school, found the process of moving to Canada relatively painless.

The biggest challenge, he says, is the difference in his schooling.

"What we're getting taught in chemistry over in Germany, it was like totally different. For example, I never heard of stoichiometry [the measure of elements in a reaction]."

But thanks to some help from his friends, he's become much better at the subject.

"That's what I love about Canadians, because they're just so open," he said.

Eisele has also seen that support on campus during sport matches.

He says all of the teams from basketball to the hockey go to each others' games and cheer one another on.

After making it to the National Finals last season, Eisele thinks the Dinos have what it takes to make even more noise.

"We're going to be good, and yeah we have great talent on the team, and also good personalities. The practices are so intense. . . I think that's the right mentality. We definitely have the right mentality to make it far."

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