In Episode 63 of the Hoopsfix podcast we sit down with former England Senior international and 13-year pro, Mike Bernard.Hailing from Manchester, Bernard hooked on to the Giants BBL team at just 16 years old, before going to the US for college and then having a pro career that saw him play in Greece, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Cyprus, Slovakia - where he had his most productive years and won a championship - and the UK.Having been involved with the Giants during their peak years in the mid-90s, and then joining them for their second incarnation in 2012, along with seeing both the England Senior National Team programme during what many consider a trying time, through to being called up to the re-birth of the Great Britain Senior Men's programme in 2006-7, Bernard has seen a lot of key stages of British basketball first-hand.The 6'9" big man now coaches the next generation coming through at Myerscough College, heading up their girl's programme, whist assisting on the boy's side. Hear from Mike on:How he first started playing basketball, making the transition from cricketThe impact Yorick Williams and Steve Brown had on him as a youngsterAspiring to play in the BBL Moving to the US to play college ball at Coffeyville Community CollegeThe importance of the weight room to his basketball performance on the courtHis aggressive nature on the court, trying to dunk everything on everyoneTrash-talking and the only player he ever talked with Getting his first England Senior call up at 19 and his memories with the National TeamThe impact Laszlo Nemeth had on his career and why he was such a player's coachJoe White and his relationship with himThe legendary Rough & Ready tournament and what made it so specialWhat a talent Ajou Deng wasThe state of the England national team programme and how it compared to GBThe recruiting process in college and which D1 schools were showing offeringHis standout memories from University of South FloridaThe invite to Milwaukee Bucks training camp that never came to fruitionWinning a championship in Slovakia and almost being forced to miss the entire seriesHis view on the BBL in the time between his debut in 1994 through to his retirement in 2015Manchester basketball as a whole and the different factions And much, much more! The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide, meanwhile it is also on Spotify here, Overcast, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.You can support Hoopsfix’s work in helping to grow British basketball on Patreon.

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