Brit a big hit in Winnipeg’s hoops debut

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This article was published 30/05/2023 (957 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jelani Watson-Gayle’s first season as a professional basketball player ended in regret.

Before joining the Winnipeg Sea Bears of the Canadian Elite Basketball League for the summer, the 6-1 point guard from London, England was with the Bristol Flyers of the British Basketball League (BBL).

Watson-Gayle, 24, had an impressive rookie campaign as he was named to the All-BBL British First Team. But in the deciding game of a semi-final series with the Leicester Riders, he played 27 minutes and didn’t score a single point.

He had averaged 12 points per game on the year.

Bristol lost the two-game series 159-156 on aggregate.

“I was playing timid,” Watson-Gayle told the Free Press Monday. “So, I just told myself, ‘I’m not doing that ever again.’”

Two weeks later, Watson-Gayle arrived in Winnipeg. He missed the opening days of training camp and had less than a week with the expansion team before it kicked off its first season Saturday night in front of 7,303 fans in downtown Winnipeg against the Vancouver Bandits.

Watson-Gayle was anything but timid, as he came off the bench to score a team-high 22 points en route to a 90-85 victory. The Bandits went on an 18-5 run to tie the game 85-85 before Watson-Gayle stepped up and drilled a three-pointer.

“I just wanted to play with confidence, really, and take my shots,” said Watson-Gayle, who made six-of-10 three point attempts on the night.

“Honestly, I was telling some of the team and my family that was the best atmosphere I ever played in. Just in terms of how the gym was packed with all the people there, and even just the halftime stuff that was going on. That was one of my favourite games.”

The Sea Bears are on the road for their next four games, starting Thursday against the Brampton (Ont.) Honey Badgers.

The CEBL is a filled with players who attended big-time NCAA schools and attracted interest from the NBA, but that’s not Watson-Gayle’s story.

He grew up playing soccer before his older brother Micah — who played junior college basketball in Kansas — convinced him to leave the pitch for the hardwood.

Watson-Gayle left home at 16 to play the final two years of his high school career in Augusta, Ga., before moving on to the NCAA Div. II level with Benedict College, Miles College, and finally, Fresno Pacific.

He was called up to Great Britain’s senior national team in February.

“You just gotta believe in yourself. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter where you played. On that day, you just gotta bring it. You can’t measure people on their past,” he said.

“I feel like I kind of have to (have a chip on my shoulder). My whole life I’ve kind of always had to have that chip. I’ve never really been people’s first choice. I might not have passed the eye test or something like that. I’ve always just had to make it work.”

With guard Teddy Allen, the team’s most accomplished scorer, shooting just four-of-23 from the floor on Saturday, Winnipeg’s professional basketball unit desperately needed someone to lead the charge on offence. Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Taylor wasn’t surprised to see Watson-Gayle take the reins.

“We loved his preparation. We put all of our practices, set plays, systems, offence and defence on a Google drive for the team. And (Watson-Gayle) arrived the 22nd and we had six or eight practices before he joined us. We put a lot of our system in at that time, but we could tell by the questions he was asking and the way he was responding to questions that he had done his homework and was looking at this stuff,” said Taylor.

“So, when he first hit the floor, he really hit the ground and executed with the team. That made a tremendous first impression. He’s a competitive guy that plays with a chip on his shoulder and I love that about him. I think when the pressure was on in the game, he really stepped up, so he gained our confidence and trust immediately.”

England isn’t known as a basketball country. Toronto Raptors forward O.G. Anunoby is the only British player in the NBA, and he moved to the United States when he was four. But Watson-Gayle hopes he can carry on the success he had in the season opener throughout the rest of the Winnipeg’s inaugural season and create more opportunities for players with the same passport.

“I feel like with me, everywhere I’ve gone, I’m not just playing for me, I’m kind of flying the flag as well. I’m representing all of basketball in England,” he said.

“If I go somewhere and I perform, that might make a coach take another English guy.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31