Nelly Cummings Reflects on Journey from Pitt to Cyprus
PITTSBURGH -- Of the four Pitt Panthers seniors to graduate this past spring, Nelly Cummings was the first to ink a professional contract, agreeing to join AEL Limassol BC, one of the most storied and successful franchises in the Cyprus Basketball Federation, this week.
Cummings expects to ship out to his new home either at the end of August or beginning of September in anticipation of a roughly 30-game season that will run from mid October to early April - similar to the average American college season. The reality of putting more than 5,700 miles and 13 hours of flying time between himself and home didn't really settle in until the announcement went public and congratulations rolled in.
"Today it kind of hit me because of how many people are talking about it on social media and all that," Cummings said following a workout at the Petersen Events Center. "But before today, it hadn’t hit me at all. Today I got a little sentimental that I really am leaving so it’s a bunch of different emotions and ‘excited’ is at the top of that list."
Cummings admits that he doesn't know much about Cyprus or the culture. He knows it's a scenically beautiful island but there's still a lot to learn about the basketball side of things. He's tapped some friends and fellow Pitt alumni who have played overseas for information - some of whom will be competing with him on the Zoo Crew in the TBT - to get as solid a background as he can.
"Anyone who knows me knows I’m a guy who has to do my research," Cummings said. "So I’m going to do all the research I can, make sure I’m making an educated decision when I make a decision like that. So I reached out to everybody I could."
And he's got plenty of potential mentors to draw from - Levance Fields, Gary McGhee, Talib Zanna, Sam Young and Gilbert Brown are just a handful of the former Panthers with international experience on the Zoo Crew's roster, with plenty of other alumni elsewhere for him to contact.
Mixed in with plenty of excitement is a sense of perspective for Cummings, who took five seasons of college basketball to wind his way from Bowling Green to Colgate back to Pittsburgh, his hometown.
Now basketball is taking him as far away from home as he's ever been. To Cummings, this year in Cyprus is something to be grateful for but not taken for granted.
"It’s a journey. I’ve been through a lot with this game," he said. I’m just very blessed and thankful that it ended with me as a professional basketball player getting paid to play the game that I love. My goal is to go be a legend over there as well."
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