Israel - Tal Cohen joins men’s basketball team

From www.jewishledger.com
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Tal Cohen is following in the footsteps of Israeli basketball players like Nadav Henefeld and Doron Sheffer who came to New England to play on American college teams.

In 2006, Cohen, 23, started his first year at American International College (AIC) in Springfield as a student athlete playing on the men’s basketball team. Henefeld and Sheffer played for the University of Connecticut.

Cohen, who stands at 6 feet, 8 inches tall, transferred in last summer from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), a Division I school where he spent his freshman and sophomore years, to become an AIC Yellow Jacket.

"I really like the area, I really like the coach. It’s a good conference," said the management information system major who received full scholarships to attend AIC and previously AMES.

"It’s not easy because I’m far away from family and friends, all my buddies back home in Israel, but I have a goal to get a degree, and I’m getting it for free. During that time, I’m also playing basketball and I love the game so it’s great," he said.

The tallest kid in class

Cohen was born and raised in Hadera, Israel, which is located on the Mediterranean Sea between Haifa and Tel Aviv.

He is the youngest child in a secular family of basketball fans. His father managed a professional Division I basketball team in Hadera, and his older brother played on the youth team that was affiliated with that professional team/club. Cohen was 5 years old when he started playing basketball, and he attended the club’s basketball school.

"In Israel, they teach you basketball. It’s not like you learn it from going outside and playing in your neighborhood. You go in there everyday for practice with coaches teaching you how to shoot, how to dribble, how to pass - they teach you everything. You basically only start playing when you are 8 or 9," he explained.

When he got to fifth grade, he started playing in a league against other towns.

"We won three championships in six years," he said.

At ages 17 and 18, he played in the Division I youth level in Israel. His team made it twice to the final four in the playoffs.

"Coming from a small town like Hadera, that’s a big accomplishment because we played against cities like Haifa and Tel Aviv," Cohen said.

He also played on the basketball team at his high school, Tichon Hadera High School. In his senior year, he served as captain, and his team made it to the final four. He was also a four-year member of the Israeli National Team for youth; he was one of the 12 best youth players who competed against national youth teams representing countries in Europe.

Three years in the IDF

After he graduated from high school in 2001, Cohen served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). After four months of basic training, he was based in Jenin, a Palestinian area near Afula, and policed the border for two years.

One of his fellow soldiers was injured when passengers in a car tried to cross the border and began shooting at the Israeli solders.

"You don’t know who you can trust, who you can’t trust… You have to be careful. Any small mistake and you can die," he said.

During his third year in the army, he was one of 12 players born in 1983 given the opportunity to play professional basketball and serve in the IDF at the same time. He was invited to play with the professional Division I team in Givat Shemuel.

Although he didn’t get paid for playing on the team, the IDF transferred him to a base closer to the team, and reassigned him to work with computers. After taking several computer courses, he managed a computer network of 40 computers in the IDF base next to Givat Shemuel.

On the Givat Shemuel professional team, Cohen was the youngest player and the only player still in the army. He got to play 10-15 minutes a game. Four of his teammates were Americans; the rest were Israeli.

"We had a historic season for that club because we got to the national final, and we only lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv, which is the biggest team in Israel," he said. "We just had good chemistry. That’s why we succeeded."

Taking his father’s advice

After the season ended and his military service ended, he had the option to either go to college or continue playing professional basketball.

"My father pushed me to get an education. I could have stayed in Israel after I got released from the army and get paid and play professional basketball. But then what? You finish basketball at 34 - then what? You gonna go to school?"

He took his father’s advice, and he applied to colleges in the United States.

"It was an opportunity to use my skills in basketball to get a free education," he said.

Although he received four full scholarship offers to play basketball, Cohen said he signed with UMES before he even visited the school because he was drawn to the warmer Maryland weather.

But at UMES, he was one of a handful of Jewish students and the first Israeli athlete to play there. The closest synagogue was in Ocean City, Md., a popular summer vacation destination. While at UMES, he befriended Alex Temkin, who is Jewish and was the women’s volleyball coach.

"We used to celebrate all the holidays together," said Cohen. "He’s like a best friend. He’s like a brother to me."

Since he’s been going to school in the United States, Cohen said that his English skills have improved greatly.

And he is also getting used to the food in the United States.

"There’s bacon everywhere. I don’t eat pork," he said. "They mix meat and cheese everywhere."

During his freshman year at UMES, Cohen received the coach’s award.

But during his sophomore year, he decided to transfer from UMES.

"I looked for a different environment, as far as the area goes. We were really far away from any city," he said, noting that the closest city to UMES is Ocean City, which is at least a 30 minute drive.

He began looking at schools in New England and New York to be closer to his girlfriend, who graduated from UMES and lives in Albany, N.Y. He looked at AIC, University of Massachusetts Lowell and St. Rose in Albany. After visiting the colleges and talking to the coaches, he decided to come to AIC, a Division II school for men’s basketball that has a little fewer than 2,000 students, and play under Art Luptowski, the head coach of the men’s basketball team, and the assistant coach, Andy Burkholder.

Cohen doesn’t mind playing Division II: "As long as it’s a full ride, a full scholarship and I get to play and get a free education, it doesn’t matter."

He added, "The Northeast 10 conference is just one of the best Division II conferences. I was in Division I, but it was a low conference. Even if you do win the conference, the chance that you will go high in the [NCAA] tournament is pretty low. But over here, if you win the conference, your chances are high because it’s a pretty good conference."

Although he doesn’t think he’s good enough to play in the NBA, he does think he can play professional basketball in Europe or Israel, which he would like to do, particularly after seeing the lifestyles of the professional basketball players on the Givat Shemuel team.

But he said it won’t be the end of the world if he doesn’t play professionally.

"I got a degree. I can go and get a job."

For now, his mind is on his upcoming games.

"With the players we got and the coaches we got, I know 100 percent, we are going to succeed," he said. "If not this year, next year we are going to be top of the conference."