New catch in the net

By Paul Pickering
IT’S Valentine’s Day and Luke Fitzgerald is out for a romantic dinner at a restaurant in Kentucky.
The affable American’s phone rings and Dandenong Rangers recruiting guru Lou Godfrey introduces himself, having previously spoken only via email.
Godfrey says he’d like to offer the Cleveland native a contract to play in the South East Australian Basketball League.
Fitzgerald pauses, before giving his date the bad news.
“I was like, ‘oh man, I’ve gotta take this call real quick’,” the new Ranger recalled last week.
Moments later, 23-year-old Fitzgerald has agreed to move to Australia, but can’t quite bring himself to tell his lady friend that the date will probably be their last.
“I told her at the end of the night – I didn’t want to ruin it,” he laughed.
Fitzgerald flew out for Melbourne a week later, joining the Rangers just three weeks before their season-opener on 13 March.
So it’s been a crazy couple of months for the 200cm import, who says his prior knowledge of Australia was garnered from the hit TV series, Lost.
“It’s a lot different to the States, but I can’t complain about anything so far – it’s been great,” he said.
“The community and all the staff at Dandenong have been so friendly, so that’s made it easier.”
Fitzgerald was a talented gridiron player in junior high, but decided to take basketball more seriously after a growth spurt at the age of 16.
He went on to secure a basketball scholarship at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky and earned first team All-American honours in the second-tier NAIA conference in his senior year.
He was playing for the Kentucky Bluegrass Stallions in the American Basketball Association – a pro league he describes as “organised streetball” – when the Rangers came calling.
The powerful forward/centre has average 18 points and 10 rebounds per game in his first five outings, despite playing only modest minutes as he acclimatises to the league.
Coach Warren Dawson said Fitzgerald adds a big body and a big personality to the Rangers’ roster.
“He’s a pretty easy-going sort of bloke and got a good sense of humour,” Dawson said.
“Like most American imports, it took him a couple of weeks to figure out our sense of humour, and the fact that we tend to take the p… out of each other constantly, but he’s fitted in really well with the group.
“And opposition coaches have already praised him and said, ‘there’s the bull you didn’t have last year’.”
Fitzgerald is a formidable figure in the paint, but says he is happy to play whatever role Dawson needs from him.
“I score and rebound, but on the other hand I can play defence, take charges and do all the little things it takes to win a basketball game,” he said.
“I’m never satisfied of course, but every day that I play and practice I’m learning.”