Apr. 12—JAMESTOWN — Former University of Jamestown star Mason Walters' first season of professional basketball has officially come to an end after he traveled halfway across the planet to play in Finland.
Walters, who also played one year at the University of Wyoming, began his professional career in December with Kouvot Kouvola in the Finnish professional basketball league, Korisliiga.
"Overall, I thought it was a really good experience to start my career," Walters said. "I thought I learned a lot of really good lessons this year about the overall landscape of playing professionally and playing overseas. I think from going down to Arizona with the (NBA) G-League stuff and then making it to Finland, I got a good grasp of a lot of different organizations and leagues. I think it was honestly a really good year for learning and getting a better idea of how professional basketball works as a whole."
In 22 games with Kouvot, Walters averaged 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Walters said he was not satisfied with his scoring output but said the experience of jumping into Kouvot's season in the middle will help him in future seasons. While he said he does not think he will be returning to Kouvot next season, he will be speaking with his agent, Drew Kelso, about the next opportunities for his professional career.
Walters said the biggest adjustments between playing in the U.S. versus Finland were getting used to the floor spacing and the physicality of the game. He said he got used to fighting through some of the contact that would be called fouls in the U.S. but were not there. Walters said he thought he did a good job of coming into the middle of the season and finding his role and maximizing the impact he had on the game.
"I think that only helps me in years to come if I find myself in the same situation, I know how to react and know how to take advantage of the opportunity regardless of what happens," Walters said.
Walters and his Kouvot teammates saw their season come to an end with a loss in four games to the Helsinki Seagulls in the first round of the playoffs. Despite the loss, Walters said the team experienced a lot of turmoil behind the scenes which made the loss more palatable. He said he learned how he has to work on his body and stay ready through the grind of a playoff series.
"I think overall from where we started at and joining halfway through, I think they're happy with how the season has shaken out," Walters said. "We played the number one team in the playoffs and we're the only team to beat them twice this year. I think they've lost six times all year and we beat them twice, so I think that was just a moral victory, I guess you could say for the team."
After scoring a combined 21 points in the first two games of the series against the Seagulls, Walters scored a combined 12 points in the final two games.
"They just adjusted and they're a really good team and took away some of my looks that I had gotten earlier in the season and earlier in the playoffs," Walters said. "But I think I learned that you can impact a game in so many ways if it's rebounding or sharing the ball or creating for your teammates, playing good defense, I think that's something I can take with me."
Walters said he has grown as a player and a person in every stop from the University of Jamestown all the way to Kouvot. He said playing basketball has taught him life lessons and allowed him to travel across the globe. Walters said he does not take the fact that he gets paid to play the game he's played since he was a kid for granted.
"I continue to grow and learn and keep continuing to grow as a person is amazing and something that I'm really lucky ...
