From Almere to Allegany: Beckley Prep basketball’s Saizonou makes journey from Netherlands to St. Bonaventure
BECKLEY, W.Va. (BVM) — For Joryam Saizonou, the destination has always been Division I basketball before making it to the NBA. That’s how he ended up at Beckley Prep Academy, a basketball-centric training center in West Virginia focused on helping high school athletes make the transition from prep to college through the sport. The plan worked as the 6-foot-3 guard committed to Division I St. Bonaventure on April 30 which completed his journey to college basketball’s highest ranks.
110% COMMITTED! #GoBonnies🐺 pic.twitter.com/HXS7iReW9l
— Joryam saizonou (@joryam2) April 30, 2021
However, Saizonou’s journey didn’t begin in West Virginia. In fact it didn’t even begin in the United States.
Born in Almere, Netherlands, Saizonou was quick to find a love for the international sport of basketball. Though not known as a dominant basketball country, Saizonou admittedly played soccer first, he was able to show a unique ability in the underappreciated sport.
In 2018, the star guard competed for the Netherlands Under-16 national squad in the 2018 FIBA U16 European Championship and accumulated 46 points in seven games before he put his name on the map during the 2019 FIBA European Championship as a member of the country’s U-18 national team where he averaged nearly seven points and over three assists per game during the tournament.
“I was 15 when I started thinking I could really do something with this,” Saizonou said. “I really loved [playing on the national team]. I thought it was great to see the talents from different countries and playing against some NBA prospects when I was younger because it showed me that I still had a lot of work to do and I still had a ways to go before I could be at the level I wanted to be at.”
This ability drew the eyes of FIBA organizers as Saizonou was selected to play at the NBA Basketball Without Borders Europe camp which is designed for the top youth players 19 and under from Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa to train under NBA players and coaches and compete against each other. This training opened Saizonou’s eyes to where he needed his game to be to make the next level.
“That was even better [than the national teams],” Saizonou said. “It was really something different. … When I got invited I had in my head that I was really good right now and I could really make it. When I got to the camp, it was a reality check and it just pushed me to work harder.”
However, Saizonou knew that his best chances to make it to the NBA and get the exposure he hoped for was in America, where he could attend a college before making the jump to the pros.
“I feel like in the Netherlands the game is really slow and there is not really a lot of exposure so there’s not as many chances to get seen as in America,” Saizonou said.
So, the youngster headed to the U.S. and enrolled at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tenn. During his stay, the guard would once again draw plenty of eyes as his dazzling display near the rim would earn him all-region honors as a junior.
“The first couple of games it was really different, I was really not used to how Americans played basketball,” Saizonou said. “But then later on in the year I got more used to it and I got more comfortable. … It really helped me progress into the player I am now.”
However, Division I scholarship offers were not coming in for the young student-athlete and so he decided to enroll at Beckley Prep for his senior season for a chance to get his name more on college radars, especially with the cancellation of the AAU season due to COVID-19.
“Corona[virus] hit and I didn’t get to play AAU at all,” Saizonou said. “I was like ‘OK, I really need to get as much exposure as I can so I can play DI.’ That’s why I decided to go to Beckley Prep.”
For Beckley Prep head coach Justin Dempsey, he saw a different player in Saizonou than other international players he worked with. He saw a kid who had a passion for college basketball and making the NBA in a more traditional way.
“It’s rare to find international kids that really follow college basketball, to them it’s the professional leagues then try to get to the NBA,” Dempsey said. “But, Joryam was a kid who wanted to go to college. He wanted to come to the states and go play Division I basketball.”
Though his season with Beckley would be limited due to COVID-19, with 26 games being cancelled by year’s end, Saizonou was still able to show his abilities to Division I coaches on a number of occasions. In one instance, the guard scored 24 points against Hargrave, in another he dropped a season-high 32 points effort against Massanutten Military Academy which included hitting a buzzer-beating layup to send the game into overtime.
“The way Coach Dempsey let me play it really gave me more confidence so I think I got a lot better while being at Beckley,” Saizonou said. “I was like ‘Oh ok I can shoot now, or shoot off the dribble or do this or do that.’ That’s how I felt and that’s why I liked Beckley a lot.”
Full Senior Season highlights out for 2021 6’3 PG Joryam Saizonou @joryam2 @ijn_wv @AllDayAthletes_ @Elite304Hoops @jwherron10 @iamjamieshaw @TMarkwith14 https://t.co/W0dXlqFc8x pic.twitter.com/2CSD918JpJ
— Team Loaded WV (@WVGenerals) March 19, 2021
Word of his abilities hit the recruiting cycle late, but once it did, the cat was out of the bag. After picking up his first Division I scholarship offer from Marshall University on April 22, the guard would earn five other scholarship offers in a week’s time including from Boston College, Eastern Washington, Montana State, Mount St. Mary’s and St. Bonaventure.
“He’s one of the best, if not the best, ball handling guards I’ve ever coached and I’ve helped a lot of kids go to college and a lot of those kids went Division I and I was really worried was he going to get that opportunity?” Dempsey said. “A bunch of teams reached out to me all at once and when that happened I knew somebody was going to offer. It was just a matter of who was going to offer first.”
Though he had opportunities at a number of schools, including a pair of other 2020 NCAA Tournament participants, Saizonou would choose the Bonnies because of their future potential and his personal connection with the program. According to Saizonou, the best player he knew from the Netherlands, Charlon Kloof, had played at St. Bonaventure from 2011-14.
“I was thinking I wanted to go to the NCAA Tournament so I wanted a team that has experience winning,” Saizonou said. “I was looking at the conference they played in, the coaching staff, the way they played and the type of players they already had and I really liked their mindset. One of the best players I know [Kloof], he played here. I talked to him about it because I wanted to know how it actually is being here and playing at St. Bonaventure.”
Though it may not be a typical journey to the collegiate level, Saizonou’s story can be inspirational for any basketball player whether in the U.S. or abroad. With enough talent, the right people will find the players and it is up to the players to make the most out of it. That’s what Saizonou has done so far and he will continue to do so until his journey is complete, hopefully after a long NBA career.
“I hope this year we’re going to win and we’re going to make the NCAA Tournament again because that’s a dream of mine,” Saizonou said. “I also want to develop as a player because I have hoop dreams and making it to the NBA … I’m just happy a lot of the work I put in while back home paid off. I’m just happy it’s starting to pay off. I still have a long way to go.”
