Men's Basketball

BENNINGTON, Vt. - Once Nick Harrington goes airborne after a loose basketball, he doesn't come back down until he has the rebound firmly in his grasp. When he gets a clear path to the rim and explodes upward, the shock waves don't disperse until after he has thrown down a thundering dunk and started back up-court.

In basketball terms, Harrington is what you'd call a finisher. He doesn't front-rim finger rolls or tip caroms away from himself; he instead tries to take care of business on the court and leave no loose ends.

That philosophy has extended beyond the hardwood for the 6-foot-7 forward, who returned to his alma mater of Southern Vermont College this week to help former coach Mike McDonough conduct his annual SVC basketball camp. Since playing his last memorable games as a Mountaineer and heading off to play professionally in Germany, Harrington has stayed true to his role as a finisher by following through on one challenge that could have easily fallen by the wayside.

"I got my degree in May," Harrington said proudly. "Business administration and management. I was three credits shy when I left (SVC), but I got it done."

"He did what he had to do, donned his cap and gown and walked the lawn, as we call it here," McDonough said. "We're all really proud of Nick. A lot of guys would have gotten a contract to play in Europe and said that they were done with school. But that piece of paper was too important to him, so he made sure to finish that end of the deal."

And it wasn't as though Harrington was perched on the end of the bench in Germany, doing his homework during games. He led the Cottbus White Devils in both scoring (18 points per game) and rebounding (14 rpg), two big reasons why the team finished second in its division with a record of 24-6. The transition to pro ball overseas was interesting for Harrington, whose teammates counted on him from the beginning to make his presence felt.

"They expected me to do a lot, to be a straight impact player," Harrington said. "They would get me the ball, and want me to score every time."

After conquering the Germany-2. Regionalliga in only his first season, Harrington was already looking around for a bigger challenge. He found it in Luxembourg, where a team called Grengewald-Hostert in the more competitive First Division was in need of a big man. Harrington quickly signed on the dotted line, and thus will journey to his second foreign country in as many seasons once basketball time rolls back around.

"I didn't even know Luxembourg was a country until I looked on a map," Harrington said with a laugh. "But it should be fun. It's a tougher league, and they're coming off a little bit of a down year. I hope I can help them build it back up."

Grengewald-Hostert has experience with such sizable American talent; the team's past players include Alex Kreps, the one-time leading scorer and rebounder at Idaho State, and Troy Weisshaar, who earned All-Conference and Newcomer of the Year honors as the leading scorer at Concordia University in California. But that's not to say that Harrington will have trouble making his mark; he is already listed as the club's top player on a league website.

Regardless of how his new team plans on using him, Harrington is looking forward to developing his skill set - particularly his ball-handling and jump-shooting skills - through Grengewald-Hostert's intensive full-team and individual practices throughout the week. He will also try a new position on for size.

"I played the four and five [with Cottbus], but I will probably play the three with my new team," Harrington said. "I've got to get more used to playing on the wing, because as I move up, there are going to be bigger guys than me playing the four."

That is, after all, what this whole experience is about for the former Mountaineer. He has never abandoned his dreams of following his idol, Kevin Garnett, to the pro basketball promised land. The detours through Germany and Luxembourg are simply other legs in that journey.

"Playing in Europe has been a great experience for me, because now I'm a professional basketball player," Harrington said. "I'm one step closer to my dream of playing in the NBA."