Torun, POLAND – From walk-on status at St. Mary’s to beginning his pro career overseas this year, former Piedmont High basketball standout Luke Barrett is realizing a dream which took shape during his five years in Moraga.

“Every teammate that graduated is still playing. I felt if I am good enough to play at St. Mary’s, I can go play here” in Europe, said Barrett, 24, standing courtside here in central Poland. “That started to become a realistic dream.”

The 6-foot-6 Barrett is playing for Arka in Gdynia, a city in northern Poland along the Baltic Sea where the home arena holds about 5,500 fans. The club provides him, at no expense, an apartment and car – a typical arrangement for former Division I NCAA players competing in Europe. He averaged 12.5 minutes and 4.3 points per contest in his first four pro games in Poland.

“The type of basketball I want to play and type of places that I fit, I knew that from the start,” he said of Europe. “This is a lot closer (in style) to college than the NBA. It is a lot more tactical. It is faster out here than college because of the 24-second shot clock. But the NBA is faster. Here you have guys who have different skillsets. We run the same exact defense we ran in college.”

Barrett had to be patient after his career ended in college.

“Obviously I knew the goal was to get somewhere and play overseas, to play pro and keep playing basketball somewhere,” said Barrett, who averaged 36.5 minutes, 9.8 points and 6.8 boards per game last season while starting all 35 games for the Gaels. “I didn’t want to think about it until my St. Mary’s career was over. I wanted that to last as long as possible. As soon as the season was over, I tried to get an agent. I ended up with an agent (Wasserman Group) that represented three or four of my (former college) teammates. I knew I wanted to go to Europe.”

“Those three months (this summer) were tough; it was a waiting game,” he added. “For me, it took a while to hear anything concrete. I was working out and trying to get ready. I knew there was interest in Poland, Germany, and Lithuania. I got a text from my agent around Aug. 5-6 and said we had an offer from Poland and we should sign.”

Barrett’s dream began this season in a former Communist country of nearly 38 million people that has also kept alive the hoop dreams of other California college products – and those with more overseas seasoning than Barrett.

One of those veterans in Poland is Bakersfield native Arik Smith, who ended his college career at Cal Lutheran in 2015. Since then, he has played in Belgium, Estonia, Italy, Slovakia, and Sweden and is now in his second stint with Torun, a city of about 200,000 people in central Poland.

“Poland is a pretty good league,” said Smith, after facing Barrett’s team. “They have a lot of teams and great arenas. The living here is nice. It is one of the cheaper countries in Europe and that is good for trying to save money while also getting paid to play as a pro.” He averaged 13.3 points in his first four outings this season.

Another St. Mary’s product who began this season in Poland is center Brad Waldow, 33, who was with a team in the second-best circuit. Since 2015 he has also played in Belgium, France, Japan, Kosovo, and Luxembourg. He had 21 points in one game and 12 boards in another in late October as his team in Wroclaw in southwest Poland won both games. Matthias Tass, from Estonia, is playing for Legia in Warsaw.

Other former players from St. Mary’s overseas (not a complete list) include Tommy Kuhse (Germany); Logan Johnson (Germany); Matthew Dellavedova (Australia); Jordan Ford (Italy); Stephen Holt (Philippines); Kristers Zoriks (Spain); Mitchell Saxen (France); Alex Ducas (Australia); Tanner Krebs (Australia); Calvin Hermanson (Spain); Kyle Bowen (Australia); Daniel Fotu (Japan); and Jordan Hunter (Australia), according to EuroBasket.com.

Former Santa Clara standout Raymond Cowels III (right) goes up for a shot in the top Polish league. He is playing this season in Sopot, a resort town in northern Poland near the Baltic Sea. (Courtesy of Trefl Sopot)

SANTA CLARA’S COWELS SET UP IN POLISH LEAGUE

Raymond Cowels III, a former standout at Santa Clara, has put down even more roots in Poland than Smith.

A guard who played high school ball in Minnesota, Cowels has played for several clubs in Poland and he is engaged to a former member of the Polish women’s national basketball team, Angelika Stankiewicz. Like many former Division I players, he had high goals at the start of his college career.

“In my mind, it was NBA or nothing,” said the Chicago native, sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Warsaw one recent morning. After playing in the G League for Maine, Cowels has fashioned a nice career overseas. “You get an experience that will last your whole life,” said Cowels, 34. “It is priceless. For me it is a no-brainer, to see a different way of life.”

Many Americans overseas change teams, and countries, nearly every year. And it is not uncommon for imports to switch teams in the middle of the season. Cowels stayed at Santa Clara for four years, even though he did consider a transfer, and is now a veteran of the ORLEN league in Poland.

Like Barrett, Cowels was not guaranteed playing time throughout all his college career.

“It was a tough four years,” Cowels said of college. “It is in my nature to figure it out. There have been ups and downs” playing overseas. He is in his sixth season overall in Poland and fourth straight. This season he is with Trefl in Sopot, a notable resort town in northern Poland along the Baltic Sea. Cowels played last season for MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza in southern Poland and he has also played in the Netherlands, New Zealand, Finland, France, and Hungary since graduating from Santa Clara with a degree in business management in 2013.

At Santa Clara, Cowels played for coach Kerry Keating. A player at Seton Hall, Keating was an assistant at several schools, including Appalachian State in North Carolina and UCLA, and was a scout for the Rockets after his coaching career.

Cowels was averaging about 22 minutes and 10 points per contest in Polish league games in early November; he scored 30 points in the team’s first three FIBA Euro Cup contests against teams from outside Poland. He was part of the Polish Cup winner in 2024.

Other ex-Broncos overseas to start this season according to EuroBasket.com (not a complete list) include Carlos Stewart (Germany); John Bryant (Germany); PJ Pipes (Turkey); Josip Vrankic (Spain); Tahj Eaddy (Croatia); Camaron Tongue (Estonia); Henrik Jadersten (Sweden); Keshawn Justice (France); D.J. Mitchell (Australia); KJ Feagin (Mexico), and Carlos Marshall (Italy).

GAELS ASSISTANT AIDED BARRETT

Barrett, before heading overseas, got some good advice from Gaels assistant coach E.J. Rowland, who played in France, Latvia, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Russia, Israel and for the Bulgarian national team.

“Luke was a joy to be around every day last season. His passion, work ethic and commitment to the team is one of the highest I have ever seen. He is the type of guy that everyone hates playing against but would love to have on their team,” Rowland wrote in an email to this publication. “He was a walk-on in college, worked harder than everyone else and eventually passed most of his peers. I expect his pro career to be a similar story.”

Some American men who play overseas simply focus on hoops – since it is now their livelihood. Others try to take advantage of the cultural aspect of another country.

“I want to do both,” Barrett said. “The first month has been just basketball. You do have a good amount of free time (with one game per week in the Polish league). That is part of the draw. I want to go to a place and immerse myself in something that is new.”

Barrett is proud of the culture within the program at St. Mary’s, where he and others stayed for their whole collegiate careers. “We really took pride in that,” he said. “I had two roommates who were there for five years and one for four. That is what made us good and gave us an advantage over teams.”

Things are changing, of course, with the new NIL money. “That is definitely true. You would be hard pressed to find a contract out here (in Poland) that is as good as college” at the Division I level, he said. “I am glad I saw both sides of it. I was glad I could be loyal.”

According to sources, the top American players in Poland can make at least $150,000 per season – and there are few expenses since an apartment and transportation is normally provided.

Barrett has come a long way since Piedmont High, with no Division I offers after his senior year. “I talked to (nearly) every Division III school in the country,” Barrett said.

He went to Pomana-Spitzer as a freshman during the COVID year, then headed to St. Mary’s as a walk-on. “I stuck it out at St. Mary’s. I got very lucky,” he said.

Barrett hopes that good fortune extends into his pro career, which has begun nearly 6,000 miles from his Bay Area roots.

Editor’s note: Virginia native David Driver, the former sports editor of papers in Baltimore and Virginia, lived three years in Hungary and now lives in Poland. He is the author of “Hoop Dreams in Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas.” Driver has interviewed American basketball players in nearly 20 countries in Europe and can be reached at daytondavid.com and davidsdriver@aol.com.