Air Force grad Burtschi gets experience playing hoops overseas

Jacob Burtschi didn't like, or at least didn't understand, certain things about German culture his first few months there playing professional basketball.

The food was different, and the former Air Force forward especially didn't like the cereal in Germany. Most German stores were completely shut down Sundays for religious reasons, which took some getting used to. He also was struck by how prevalent public transportation was. As far as basketball, he wasn't always thrilled that some teammates liked to shoot too much.

He can't wait to go back and do it all again.

"I'm living a life 90 percent of people want to do but can't," said Burtschi, who has the most steals in Air Force history. "I'm very blessed."

Burtschi said he is lucky to be paid to play a game he loves. Burtschi has spent most of the spring back in his home state of Oklahoma after finishing his rookie year overseas, and has some good options for next season. He might be headed to play in Spain. He went to Spain to try out with a team in the ACB league, the premier organization in the country, in late May. Burtschi said it is his goal to land in the ACB before he is done playing. He could go back to Germany, either with the team he was just with, the Phoenix Hagen, or switch teams – he had a good rookie season and is a hot commodity, and could land with a team that finished in the upper division of the league.

Wherever he lands, it’ll be a financial boon for him. He said he made about $3,250 U.S. dollars per month last season. He said he’ll probably make six figures annually with his new contract.

He said he isn’t in it just for the money. And there are pitfalls of playing pro ball overseas. He said once the paychecks were two months late. He came from a structure at Air Force that was built around sharing the ball; in pro ball he found that he could be open behind the 3-point line and never get the ball as a teammate jacked up a shot. Considering he won the 3-point contest at the league's All-Star Game and hit 44.2 percent of his 3-point shots during the season, he wasn’t always happy at the lack of passing.

“Team ball wasn’t the big thing in Germany,” Burtschi said.

Those things were minor annoyances. Just being back on the court was enough to make up for them.

“I missed it so much,” Burtschi said.

Being overseas added to the adventure. Even though the cereal wasn’t particularly good in Germany, he enjoyed the people and the culture grew on him, and said he was impressed with the fans’ passion for basketball.  

“Basketball is basketball, and it was a good experience being immersed in a different culture,” said former Air Force player Antoine Hood, Burtschi’s former teammate who played for a short time in the Czech Republic. “It was fun. You just have to adapt.”

Burtschi just turned 27, and he said he wants to keep playing until he is 31 or 32. He wants to get into coaching, on the college level. And while playing overseas may have included some surprises, he is appreciative.

“I love every second of it,” Burtschi said. “I cherish all of it.”