Norway native Lars Nilsen to nestle at Elon
By David Kehrli
The sound of a basketball bouncing off the hardwood doesn’t register as particularly common in a small Norwegian city more than 4,000 miles away from Burlington.
The slushing of snow from skiers and snowboarders, the carving of ice from metal skate blades and the punch of a cleat making contact with a soccer ball qualify as customary in Lars Nilsen’s hometown of Skien, Norway.
“Winter sports like skiing and snowboarding and everything of that sort; we’re a huge country with that,” Nilsen said from his home in Norway. “Then soccer, but basketball is a minor sport. Basketball in Norway, we could have probably like 20 people max watching the games. In the U.S., we’ve got packed gyms looking at us.”
Nothing sounded as special, or as rare for a Norway native, as the news Nilsen received earlier this month that he was being offered a spot as a preferred walk-on with the Elon men’s basketball team.
“I’m super excited,” said Nilsen, a recent graduate of The Burlington School. “I feel like this is a perfect opportunity and a perfect fit for me. I get to come in with a chip on my shoulder, expect nothing, and then just trying to earn everything.”
For several months, Nilsen wasn’t sure what to expect and pondered from a foreign country if his future would include college basketball. And if so, where?
When his senior season with The Burlington School concluded in February, Nilsen was primed for the Amateur Athletic Union season where he was slated to play for Team Felton, a premier travel ball club sponsored by NBA player and former North Carolina standout Raymond Felton.
The way he saw it, it was a final chance to prove himself on the court against quality competition in his quest of finding a college basketball destination on top of the Division II interest he already had. That opportunity never came because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was as lost as everybody else,” he said. “That was kind of a tricky situation. I went to TBS with the goal to get different looks from different colleges and I did that. I feel like the coronavirus didn’t mess up that, but in a different way it messed up my AAU experience and me maybe getting more looks off of that. I was about to play with them then the coronavirus just ruined that plan and forced everybody to be in quarantine, and then, at the end, me leaving and going home on summer vacation.
“I live by a rule that everything happens for a reason. I looked at it as an opportunity to grow as a person, and then a student and then a player, so I felt like even though I wouldn’t get any looks from (from college programs), I would still grow and get a great education and be a better person. Then the basketball thing came in, and that was perfect.”
In May, Nilsen returned to Norway, where he continued to work out in the same place the dream began as a 13-year-old soccer player.
“I was playing soccer at the time,” he said. “I was interested in trying some new stuff. Then, randomly, I just saw somebody play basketball, and then I started playing basketball and I started liking it and then it just grew from there — my love for the game and then my dedication to getting better.
“It’s a small city. So it’s really cool how it all started with me being from a small city in Norway with one basketball club and one team, and every weekend we had to travel two hours to play games and stuff. Then from just growing here in Skien with the club and with the team, because we’ve grown a lot and the team is getting bigger. We actually established a new sports academy with basketball and stuff. It’s crazy how it all started.”
Humble basketball beginnings turned to opportunity with added experience as Nilsen eventually made Norway’s under-16 and under-18 national teams and decided to move to America to better pursue his goal of getting a collegiate opportunity.
“I was talking to my family and my coaches for a long time because it’s a difficult choice to travel and then move away from home and all your friends,” he said. “I just felt like that was the right move for me and my family with me continuing to grow as a person, student and a basketball player to just get better and try and compete every day. That was easier in the States.
“It’s probably like 10 or 15 other dudes (from Norway on American college basketball teams). So, it’s like a huge, huge thing with me being accepted to a Division I school because in the whole country, we probably got like 5,000 people playing basketball.”
Nilsen made the move ahead of his junior year as part of a foreign exchange program, setting him up with a host family and landing him at Southeast Guilford High School, where he played for a season before transferring to The Burlington School.
“Lars was on the bottom of the depth chart at the start of the season,” TBS coach Ryan Bernardi said. “Lars just worked his way up the roster every day. He easily could have — you know, grass is greener — transferred, could have left at the start of the season, but he just put his head in the sand and worked and brought energy and just won over our coaching staff and our program.”
Nilsen steadily improved and became a bigger piece for the Spartans as the season progressed and he settled into a more comfortable role, Bernardi said.
Elon’s interest in Nilsen grew after the high school season ended, but exposure during the year paid off in the end.
“With Elon being so close, they had a lot of great looks at Lars in practice, in games, so they were really familiar with Lars,” Bernardi said. “It was just a really genuine conversation between (Elon coach Mike) Schrage and Lars. You’ve got to be a certain type of person to be a walk-on and Lars checks those boxes.”
Nilsen’s Spartans teammate Ja’Dun Michael made waves in April when he chose to forgo scholarship opportunities at power conferences to sign with Elon, making him the Phoenix’s highest-rated prospect in the online recruiting services era.
“I think that was great, because I think college coaches recruit people with potential and then with a willing mindset to get better,” Nilsen said of Elon’s interest in watching Michael and in turn seeing the rest of the Spartans. “I think I showed that during workouts and then during games. I think that helped me out a lot.”
When Nilsen becomes a part of the Elon program, the sound of motivation from back home will continue to play on a loop in his head, he said.
“I really just want to help the sport grow here in Norway and set an example for my country and for other people growing up, seeing that basketball can be a sport for them, too,” he said. “I just want to prove to everybody that I’m willing to do whatever to earn people’s respect and then by hard work just exceeding, getting better and getting more comfortable.”
By David Kehrli
The sound of a basketball bouncing off the hardwood doesn’t register as particularly common in a small Norwegian city more than 4,000 miles away from Burlington.
The slushing of snow from skiers and snowboarders, the carving of ice from metal skate blades and the punch of a cleat making contact with a soccer ball qualify as customary in Lars Nilsen’s hometown of Skien, Norway.
“Winter sports like skiing and snowboarding and everything of that sort; we’re a huge country with that,” Nilsen said from his home in Norway. “Then soccer, but basketball is a minor sport. Basketball in Norway, we could have probably like 20 people max watching the games. In the U.S., we’ve got packed gyms looking at us.”
Nothing sounded as special, or as rare for a Norway native, as the news Nilsen received earlier this month that he was being offered a spot as a preferred walk-on with the Elon men’s basketball team.
“I’m super excited,” said Nilsen, a recent graduate of The Burlington School. “I feel like this is a perfect opportunity and a perfect fit for me. I get to come in with a chip on my shoulder, expect nothing, and then just trying to earn everything.”
For several months, Nilsen wasn’t sure what to expect and pondered from a foreign country if his future would include college basketball. And if so, where?
When his senior season with The Burlington School concluded in February, Nilsen was primed for the Amateur Athletic Union season where he was slated to play for Team Felton, a premier travel ball club sponsored by NBA player and former North Carolina standout Raymond Felton.
The way he saw it, it was a final chance to prove himself on the court against quality competition in his quest of finding a college basketball destination on top of the Division II interest he already had. That opportunity never came because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was as lost as everybody else,” he said. “That was kind of a tricky situation. I went to TBS with the goal to get different looks from different colleges and I did that. I feel like the coronavirus didn’t mess up that, but in a different way it messed up my AAU experience and me maybe getting more looks off of that. I was about to play with them then the coronavirus just ruined that plan and forced everybody to be in quarantine, and then, at the end, me leaving and going home on summer vacation.
“I live by a rule that everything happens for a reason. I looked at it as an opportunity to grow as a person, and then a student and then a player, so I felt like even though I wouldn’t get any looks from (from college programs), I would still grow and get a great education and be a better person. Then the basketball thing came in, and that was perfect.”
In May, Nilsen returned to Norway, where he continued to work out in the same place the dream began as a 13-year-old soccer player.
“I was playing soccer at the time,” he said. “I was interested in trying some new stuff. Then, randomly, I just saw somebody play basketball, and then I started playing basketball and I started liking it and then it just grew from there — my love for the game and then my dedication to getting better.
“It’s a small city. So it’s really cool how it all started with me being from a small city in Norway with one basketball club and one team, and every weekend we had to travel two hours to play games and stuff. Then from just growing here in Skien with the club and with the team, because we’ve grown a lot and the team is getting bigger. We actually established a new sports academy with basketball and stuff. It’s crazy how it all started.”
Humble basketball beginnings turned to opportunity with added experience as Nilsen eventually made Norway’s under-16 and under-18 national teams and decided to move to America to better pursue his goal of getting a collegiate opportunity.
“I was talking to my family and my coaches for a long time because it’s a difficult choice to travel and then move away from home and all your friends,” he said. “I just felt like that was the right move for me and my family with me continuing to grow as a person, student and a basketball player to just get better and try and compete every day. That was easier in the States.
“It’s probably like 10 or 15 other dudes (from Norway on American college basketball teams). So, it’s like a huge, huge thing with me being accepted to a Division I school because in the whole country, we probably got like 5,000 people playing basketball.”
Nilsen made the move ahead of his junior year as part of a foreign exchange program, setting him up with a host family and landing him at Southeast Guilford High School, where he played for a season before transferring to The Burlington School.
“Lars was on the bottom of the depth chart at the start of the season,” TBS coach Ryan Bernardi said. “Lars just worked his way up the roster every day. He easily could have — you know, grass is greener — transferred, could have left at the start of the season, but he just put his head in the sand and worked and brought energy and just won over our coaching staff and our program.”
Nilsen steadily improved and became a bigger piece for the Spartans as the season progressed and he settled into a more comfortable role, Bernardi said.
Elon’s interest in Nilsen grew after the high school season ended, but exposure during the year paid off in the end.
“With Elon being so close, they had a lot of great looks at Lars in practice, in games, so they were really familiar with Lars,” Bernardi said. “It was just a really genuine conversation between (Elon coach Mike) Schrage and Lars. You’ve got to be a certain type of person to be a walk-on and Lars checks those boxes.”
Nilsen’s Spartans teammate Ja’Dun Michael made waves in April when he chose to forgo scholarship opportunities at power conferences to sign with Elon, making him the Phoenix’s highest-rated prospect in the online recruiting services era.
“I think that was great, because I think college coaches recruit people with potential and then with a willing mindset to get better,” Nilsen said of Elon’s interest in watching Michael and in turn seeing the rest of the Spartans. “I think I showed that during workouts and then during games. I think that helped me out a lot.”
When Nilsen becomes a part of the Elon program, the sound of motivation from back home will continue to play on a loop in his head, he said.
“I really just want to help the sport grow here in Norway and set an example for my country and for other people growing up, seeing that basketball can be a sport for them, too,” he said. “I just want to prove to everybody that I’m willing to do whatever to earn people’s respect and then by hard work just exceeding, getting better and getting more comfortable.”
