Virtually unknown on the European Basketball scene before last weekend, the Norwegian Torgrim Sommerfeldt was probably the biggest surprise in the World roster of the Nike Hoop Summit. I checked with him after his return to Norway how did he ended up in Portland and what his future plans are.

First of all, can you present yourself. Most of the people following
European Basketball have never heard your name before the Hoop summit.
What type of basketball player are you?

Obviously my name is Torgrim Sommerfeldt, and I am from Drammen, Norway. On the court I see myself as a motivator and team player for whatever team I play for. I’m a 6’6 shooting guard, and my strengths are my ability to get my shoot off against any opposition.

How did that come that you got the invitation for this prestigious
event? I guess you were some kind of surprised?

I was more than surprised when I got the call that I was selected for the Nike Hoop Summit! It was like a dream come true for me, and obviously it has open a lot of doors for me.

During a trip to Las Palmas with my high school, we met a Nike rep. which recommended me for the camp. After ending up on the backup list, I got selected when one of the guards that were selected got injured.

Have you already felt a difference since the announcing of your name? I
mean, you are probably getting a lot of Media attention right now?

Of course you can feel a slight difference because of the media attention, but I am guessing that it will pass pretty soon. But it’s a lot of fun to get your name out there, and hear people talk about you.

How big is basketball in Norway? The National team is not playing on a
very high level and the local teams are not known for their International success. Is there something changing in the future or will Norway never become a basketball country?

The Norwegian basketball culture is not very big. Even though the interested for basketball is increasing by the years, I doubt that Norway will become a huge basketball nation. I think that’s really sad, because there is talent all through the country.

How do you see your basketball future? Did you already get some
interesting proposals since the Hoop Summit?

I truly want to succeed in basketball at a professional level. That is, and has been a dream of mine for many years. The Hoop Summit really got me out there competing against the best players at my age, and it was a lot of fun to see that I was able to compete against bigger names from countries with bigger basketball culture. Several school’s have shown interest so that is very flattering.

Thanks Torgrim and good luck.

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As I will be off this weekend, I give your some picks to follow the Nike Hoops Summit which will be held this weekend in Portland.

• A first look at the World team by OregonLive
• History repeating for some German? Dirk Nowitzki broke out on the US scene with his Hoops Summit performance and comments on the future of Tim Ohlbrecht.
• The Canadian view
• Draftexpress is of course covering the event intensively
• For the Spanish readers is this website probably the best on to follow the event
• If you want to follow discussions in German about the event, here is the right place
• World Select Team coach Rob Beveridge about the talent he has this year.
• Preview of the official Trailblazers website on the World Team
• Finally, the official website

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Let’s start with the guards where we have the Argentinean 1989 born Diego Gerbaudo who is actually playing for Real Madrid. You see here a clip of his best plays during the Hospitalet Tournament 2006.

For the Lithuanian guard Zygimantas Janavicius, it was pretty impossible to find good clips on the net where he is the main part of it. So I let it like that and about the next guy, Torgrim Sommerfeldt, I can not tell you anything as I never heard even his name until I read the roster of the World Select Team. He is however considered as the best Norwegian basketball talent for ages.

The next prospect on the list is Serge Ibaka, the Congolese forward actually playing in Spain. About him, you find some interesting clips on the net with his actual LEB Oro team of Hospitalet.

Coming to the next big guy, we have the German PF Tim Ohlbrecht who is actually playing for Brose Baskets Bamberg. Here is a clip I made of him when he played with his U19 team in last year’s Final Four of the German Youth Championship NBBL.

To find a good video of the French PF Alexis Ajinca is also pretty hard. You can check out this clip where he is represented several times with what he does best: blocking shots. Of course, there is also this clip but it does not show all what he can do.

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