Seven minutes was all a recent BU alum got to play on the same court with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony. Just seven minutes after 792 he logged for Dennis Wolff and the Terriers last season. But those seven minutes were positive enough for last season’s men’s basketball co-captain to continue the early stages of his chase for a new career overseas.
From Aug. 22 through Sept. 2, Omari Peterkin, the 6-foot-8, 276-pound center who averaged 8.0 points and 6.4 rebounds in 2006-07, played in the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas, Nev. with his native country’s national team, the Virgin Islands. While Peterkin’s playing time was sparse during the tournament, due in part to his late arrival with the team after earning his graduate degree, he did get those seven precious minutes against the world’s cream of the crop basketball talent, Team USA, on Aug. 23.
“I still got a little time, it was a good time,” Peterkin said. “If you could just see from the ways these guys play, actually being out with them is just a whole different level. You can’t see it on TV – the speed, the power, every different part of the game is just elevated above everyone. That’s why they get paid.”
With the game decided early after Team USA opened up a 42-13 lead after the first quarter, Peterkin was given the call by coach Tevester Anderson of Jackson St. University and found himself with the opportunity to throw down in front of James and Tyson Chandler.
“I went in really cold at the end of the game,” Peterkin said. “I had an open dunk and the ball slipped out of my hands and I got my own offensive board.”
A rebound that he converted for his only two points of the contest. Two points Peterkin scored mere feet away from who some regard as the best player in the world. In that moment, Peterkin was far removed from his days eating pepperoni slices at T. Anthony’s in West Campus.
“I thought he did fine,” said Wolff of his former player. “He was kind of a victim since he hadn’t been in camp with them and they kind of held it against him, which I thought was ridiculous.”
After playing three years for the defensive authority of Dennis Wolff, Peterkin found things were a little different on the sidelines away from Case Gymnasium.
“Coach Wolff is more of an extensive-minded coach that I really like a lot more,” Peterkin said. “The primary thing he concentrates on is defense, and that’s the good thing about coach Wolff – he really teaches good team defense.”
Different, too, on the court.
“The reason they get paid so much more is they’re just so much better fundamentally,” Peterkin said. “You can see the difference between Tayshaun [Prince], Mike Miller and Kobe and Lebron. You can see the difference between body types and athleticism.
“Lebron is my height but five times faster,” he added.
This wasn’t Peterkin’s first foray into international competition. He played with the Virgin Islands in 2003 at the FIBA World Championships. Next summer, he could be sharing the post with Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, who Peterkin said will play for the national team if it qualifies for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
Until then, O, as he was known to Terrier Nation, is trying to break into the European Basketball Circuit, following in the footsteps of former Terrier big Rashad Bell, who was named Regular Season MVP of the Hungarian Division A League while playing for ZTE KK last season.
“[I’m] just waiting now on a contract to play in Europe, hopefully Sweden or Finland,” Peterkin said. “The agent said just said to wait. I just want to play until I can’t play.
“I’m conditioning and getting stronger. It’s just a lot more physical here,” he added.
Wolff, who remains an active part of Peterkin’s career and has helped him in his decisions after college, said his success will depend on his ability to perform at a high level as soon as possible.
“At this point he is in a situation where he needs to get on a team and try and put up some numbers,” Wolff said. “Rashad has always put up some good numbers and he moved up to more competitive leagues every year.”
If the same Peterkin shows up that dropped a sensational 19 points and 14 rebounds on the University of Maryland-Baltimore County last Jan. 20, it won’t be long until word begins to reach the elite leagues of Europe and Asia. Until then, his future is a waiting game, and while Peterkin is fully confident he’ll be heading somewhere soon, for now it’s destination: unknown.