Stefan Blaszczynski knows how important international acquaintances can be.The sophomore guard’s journey to Thibodaux started halfway across the world in Sydney, Australia, when he began working with Ken Cole, a longtime coach in the Australian professional leagues. Blaszczynski said he was not really recruited in Australia until he started working with Cole, who helped him with his shooting.
Cole, who knew former Louisiana State University men’s basketball coach Dale Brown, called Brown to inform him about Blaszczynski. Brown, who knew Coach Ricky Blanton (coach of the Colonels basketball team at the time), called him and told him about Blaszczynski. Blanton then started talking to Blaszczynski about coming to Nicholls.
Blaszczynski said he was interested in playing at bigger schools, but he would not have had the chance to play as much so he chose Nicholls, a smaller school.
Head basketball coach J.P. Piper said the adjustment to being so far away from home was hard for Blaszczynski at first because of his strong relationship with his family.
“It’s not like going off to college for most kids in the states,” Piper said. “He’s halfway around the world, so at times when other kids would logically go home, Stef doesn’t get to.”
Blaszczynski said there is a big difference between Australian basketball and American basketball.
“The speed of the game, the style of the game, everything’s different,” Blaszczynski said. “You have better athletes-people that can jump. It’s just a lot different. First you have to keep up with everything. Then, second, you have to get the hang of it.”
Despite all the new changes he had to endure, Blaszczynski said he is adjusting to the game.
Not having started a game last year, Blaszczynski ended his freshman year with a bang, leading the Colonels with 21 points in their season finale against McNeese.
Even though the game gave him encouragement, Blaszczynski said an off-season consisting of working out, playing basketball and shooting every day has been the real reason for his success this season.
As of now, Blaszczynski is averaging 13.1 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game. He has been the leading Colonel scorer in six of the teams’ 15 games.
He also achieved a feat this year that no basketball player in Nicholls history has ever done when he recorded a triple-double against Cincinnati Christian University on Dec. 22.
Piper said he was not really surprised at the success that Blaszczynski has had this season.
“Stef came in last year with an injury and never really had an opportunity to show what he could do,” Piper said. “When he got his conditioning right, we knew he would be a good basketball player.”
Even though he has experienced success this year, Blaszczynski said it has not all been easy.
“I don’t think anyone thought I could actually do it,” Blaszczynski said. “At the start of the season, it was just mental really. I just told myself that I could do it, and I went out and I got it done.”
Although he is happy with his play this year, Blaszczynski said he is not satisfied because he thinks he can contribute more to the team. It is this type of unselfish play that senior forward Dominique Geason likes most about playing with his teammate.
“He’s a very unselfish person,” Geason said. “A lot of teams collapse on him to double team on him, and he’s very unselfish to pass out the ball to an open teammate.”
When he is not on the court, the business administration major reads books about investments to inform him about possible career opportunities in stocks or real estate after his basketball career is over.
