Former LVR star Sean Denison answers call from Russia, inks trial deal with Spartak Primorje
By The Nelson Daily Sports
By Bruce Fuhr, The Nelson Daily
It’s taken more than five months but former L.V. Roger Bomber Sean Denison has found a home.
The Bomber grad recently inked a trial contract with Spartak Primorje of the BEKO Professional Basketball League in Russia.
“I’m excited to be playing again,” Denison told The Nelson Daily from Russia.
“The team plays very unstructured offensively and has a run and gun style which is just perfect for me.”
“It will be interesting to see how this season plays out,” adds the 26-year-old Denison.
Denison has been on hold since leaving Eisbaeren Bremerhaven of the German Bundesliga in the spring.
The 6’11”, 245-pound center/forward decided his former club was not the answer to his career.
So taking the free agent route Denison waited until his agent found another team, most likely in Europe.
However, when NBA Commissioner David Stern and his owner pals decided to lockout the players, there was gluten of NBA players on the market looking to keep busy.
“The lockout played a part but it wasn’t just that, my last season wasn’t as good as it could have been,” Denison explained. “There’s no telling all of the factors involved but this year it took longer to find something good.”
Spartak Primorje plays in Vladivostok, a city of 600,000.
Vladivostok is the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia, situated at the head of the Golden Horn Bay, which is not far from Russia’s borders with China and North Korea.
Spartak Primorje, 4-4, has been on the road but returns home for a game against Spartak after suffering losses to Triumph 92-82 and Lokomotiv-Kuban 79-72.
Denison, who played in Turkey after graduating and playing four seasons of NCAA Division One Men’s Basketball with the Santa Clara Broncos, has spent most of the fall training at LVR with Bombers.
However, prior to Christmas an early present came in from his agent.
“The contract came up kind of fast as my agent told me about the team being interested and the situation looked good so I responded immediately letting them know I was interested too,” Denison said.
“From there it was just a matter of getting my visa organized (the Russian embassy was closed for holidays at the time) and getting over there.
“From the time I signed the contract it still took a couple weeks to get here just because I had to get a new passport in order to process my visa.”
The BEKO PBL, in its second year of play, is the top league in Russian. The league has 10 teams and sports former Utah Jazz star Andrei Kirilenko, who signed a deal with CSKA Moscow in the fall.
So there is little time for Denison to make an impression with the coaching staff.
“The wait was worth it but I’m definitely happy to be playing again.”
