US import excited to be here

New Quadrio Earthmoving Geraldton Buccaneers import Colter Lasher has touched down at Activewest Stadium and is excited about the opportunity to play basketball Down Under with his new team.

“Australia is definitely somewhere I always wanted even take a vacation to,” he said.

“So the chance to play basketball and live down here for a little (bit) was an opportunity I really wanted to take advantage of, for sure.”

The 201cm American enjoyed a memorable career with Houston Baptist University in the NCAA’s Southland Conference — becoming only the third player in HBU history to score more than 1000 career points.

Those four college years are clearly something he will never forget. “I was able to be a part of their first year in the Southland Conference,” he said.

“It was a struggle — we were in last place my freshman year.

“And then my senior year, we were tied for second; half a game out of first place. It was just cool to see that transformation as a program and be able to build something there and then pass that on to other guys.

“We were a really young team and we grew up together and it was a pretty cool experience.”

Lasher enjoyed working closely with veteran HBU men’s basketball head coach Ron Cottrell, who is in his 26th consecutive season heading up the program.

“He has pretty much seen everything and there’s no question he didn’t have an answer to or hadn’t seen before, so that was real nice to be able to bounce stuff off of him,” Lasher said.

Off court, Lasher’s study major was international business.

“With my business background, there was a lot of working in groups,” he said. “We’d have to do group projects and work with different people and personalities.

“I think that has definitely carried over to basketball.

“You learn how to manage groups, work well with others and then how to fit in as well.

“Coming over here, that’s been a thing I’m trying to do. I want to get in where I fit in.”