Euro B-Ball Blogger Marcus Stout: From the D to the A(ustria)

Hello everyone. My name is Marcus Stout and I am a graduate of Detroit Renaissance High School and Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. I will be blogging about my experiences as a professional basketball player in Europe.

I played summer league with the Detroit Pistons and I am currently playing in Oberwart, Austria for the Oberwart Gunners.  This is my first year out of school and my first time ever being out of the country.  I have been here for about a month now and so far it has been a good experience.

Before I left I had to get everything together and I was running around to different stores and getting things that people told me I would need. I bought things such as a slingbox which allows me to watch the television at home on my computer while I am hers so I can keep up with everything thats going on. I bought a new computer, bulks of toiletries, and some of my favorite foods.  My father accompanied me to Best Buy to get a new computer and while I’m trying to decide which computer I wants he says, I think you should get the most expensive one!!!  I started laughing and thats when it really hit me that I am entering another phase of life because this time I wasn’t spending his money but I was spending my own for the first time.  The day before I left I stayed up all night packing because I wanted to sleep on the flight.

The overall trip took about 18 hours.  I flew to Chicago O’hare airport and had a six hour layover.  Then flew to Warsaw, Poland and finally landed in Vienna, Austria. The flight wasnt that bad because I am used to flying and I was asleep the whole time. Really the only negative was the food because I did not know what it was so I just ate the bread and left the rest of the meal alone.

One of the main reasons I choose to play in Austria this year is because one of my childhood friends, Jae Youngblood also plays here. He told me that it was a good opportunity and I knew that it would help me adjust alot better with him being here for 2 years already.  All the worries that I had before I came over here have not been an issue thus far.  I live in a house with Jae and have my own  car. I took me about a week to learn how to drive stick but I got it down now for the most part.  The food that I have eaten since I been here has been good. The restaurants that I have gone too have served mostly American food. There is a McDonald’s right down the street which didn’t suprise me because there is a McDonald’s on every corner in the States.

So far everything has been a good experience. I don’t want to write too much for the first entry because I have alot to talk about but I will get back to you soon with alot of stories to tell.

P.S- Wanted to give a shoutout to my mom, dad, sister and my girlfriend. I miss you all. I also added some pics of my house and car.

-Marcus Stout

www.pistonscast.com