by Ashen Stuart
Imagine leaving your home country to play basketball, then after being invited to an NBA Camp, you are being coached by an NBA star, and living your dream of playing high-level basketball in America. No, this is not the script for an upcoming movie, this is the life of St. Albans ‘24 forward Kahu Treacher. I had the chance to sit down with him and his coach, Coach OJ, and unpack the experiences basketball has blessed him with.
Treacher is from New Zealand and immediately rose above the competition with his size at 6’8” and 210 pounds, with superhuman athleticism. He was allowed to showcase his skills at the NBA’s “Basketball Without Borders” camp in Abu Dhabi and Treacher did not disappoint. He performed so well that he was selected for the All-Star game and dubbed one of the best players in the entire camp. He was coached by Atlanta Hawks forward Saddiq Bey, who personally approved of Treacher’s game. According to Treacher, Saddiq told him “You have all the tools to succeed, you have height, athleticism, can dribble and shoot, and can run the point”.
Treacher spoke of how the camp opened his eyes to a whole new version of basketball and gave him a different outlook on the game.“The camp showed me many different styles of play,” Treacher said, “Seeing players who dominate with their speed and others who slow the game down to their pace.” He would go on to take all of these experiences from the camp and add them to his game and humbly admits he still has a lot to learn.
I also got a chance to speak with Coach OJ, his coach at St. Albans, and he spoke of Treacher, not only as a basketball player but as a man as well. Coach OJ mentioned Treacher’s character, first saying that “He is a bright light and brings lots of fun energy to the team,” and how the other players on the team look to Treacher as the glue that holds them together. When asked what drew his attention to Treacher his answer was the same as Bey’s. “His athleticism and ability to dribble the ball at the size that he is.” Coach OJ also mentioned how he got his eye on Treacher, saying that he had a friend who specialized in international basketball and introduced the two of them, paving the way for Treacher to attend St.Albans.
Treacher spoke very highly of St. Albans going on to say that it is the “perfect school for him”, and that “he felt like he had been there for years, after only a couple of weeks”. Another major reason for Treacher picking St. Albans was that he was given the opportunity to play on the famous Team Takeover National team and travel the country for AAU basketball. However, there was still a change from basketball in New Zealand to basketball here in America. Treacher said that the overall speed of the game was much faster than what he was used to and gave him an entirely different feeling.
Every hooper’s dream is to hear their name called on draft night, and Treacher’s dream is no different. He says his goal is to play Division I basketball, and humbly proclaims that it does not matter where he goes and that he wants to make it to the league for his family and everyone back home. Treacher mentions his personality back home and that he aspires to be a role model for the kids back there, proving that they can accomplish their dreams just like he did. “Sometimes I’ll open Instagram and see messages from kids back home saying ‘I want to be just like you’ and ‘You’re my inspiration,’” said Treacher, “Seeing stuff like that really pushes me to be the best I can be.”