Mike Copeland will head to Europe next month to begin the next stage of his basketball career after playing on North Carolina's NCAA championship team.
Copeland, a 6-7, 235-pound forward and a Reynolds High School graduate, has signed to play for the Glasgow Rocks professional team in Glasgow, Scotland, a member of the British Basketball League.
"I got lucky," Copeland said. "There's a lot of guys still looking for jobs. This is a blessing. There's a lot of guys still trying to find out where they're going."
Copeland signed a one-year contract with the team, which finished 16-17 last season and was 12 games out of first place. He will receive the use of a car in addition to his salary, and will live with one of the five other American players on the team.
He was a career reserve at UNC in four seasons but played in the late stages of an 89-72 win against Michigan State in the NCAA championship game in April in Detroit as a senior. He wanted to continue his basketball career after finishing at UNC and participated in the Eurobasket Summer League in Las Vegas as a member of Team Dublin.
Sterling Davis, Glasgow's player/coach, saw Copeland play in Las Vegas and started the process to sign him.
"I played real well out there," Copeland said. "He already had some film on me. When he saw me in Vegas, he was real impressed."
Davis, in a statement released by the team, said he is confident that Copeland will help Glasgow inside because of his strength and rebounding ability.
Davis admired the manner in which Copeland came back to play in UNC's 2009 season after suffering a serious knee injury in May 2008 in a pickup game in Chapel Hill when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and underwent surgery in early June.
"Mike unfortunately faced some tough luck at Carolina with the injuries he accumulated," Davis said. "I think he has so much to prove to himself and everyone else. He will be hungry.
"He had a very productive showing in the Eurobasket camp this summer, which is what caught my eye. He showed great leadership qualities, not only with his playing ability but also the positive energy he brought to the guys he was playing with. I think he brings a lot of different attributes to the team."
He played in 17 games as a senior and started once, and averaged just under a point and a rebound. He played in 78 games in his UNC career and scored 85 points and grabbed 66 rebounds.
Copeland is still in Chapel Hill but is preparing to move out of his apartment. He will leave by the end of the month for Glasgow to report to the team by Sept. 1. Practice will begin Sept. 3 and the team's season will start on Sept. 26.
The trip to Scotland will be Copeland's first outside the U.S. He said he is hopeful that his season in Glasgow will lead to other basketball opportunities.
"I'm trying to take a step into the door here," Copeland said. "If I can go to Scotland and play real well, maybe I can get a chance to play in the NBA or someplace else.
"I'm juiced about the opportunity. I'm excited to get over there and meet the people."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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