McCalop: Starting a new life Down Under

Feature image via: Quick Flick Media

Five years ago, Koop McCalop made a courageous move to change the trajectory of his career – which ended up changing his life forever. 

Living his life in the small Texas town of Odessa, McCalop played community college basketball in North Dakota with the Lumberjacks, before purchasing a one-way ticket to Adelaide to train with the Southern Tigers.

From training to securing a contract, then eventually landing with the North Adelaide Rockets last season – McCalop is now one of the most recognisable players in the conference. 

While he’s seen success on the court, met his now wife in college, started a family and founded a flooring business with his wife. McCalop just recently has been naturalised as an Australian citizen. 

“It’s been a process, It’s been a whole grind really,” he said.

“Coming from nothing, from sleeping in my car and taking that one-way ticket out here to take a chance, see what I can actually do and have a better life.

“I didn’t even come out here to play basketball, I really come out here to build a better life from where I was in Odessa… So I had the opportunity to come out to Australia, which I think was a bit crazy, (but) I looked at it as I might as well take a chance to see how it could go and it’s been going extremely well.

In his time in Australia, McCalop has played for three teams with a career average of 15.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists for the Tigers, Eastern Mavericks and now the North Adelaide Rockets.

Koop McCalop put him on a poster ?

Watch the #NBL1Central First Nations Round via https://t.co/NEk1I7kIKG or the NBL1 App ?&? pic.twitter.com/IRferD9ULM

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His success in the NBL1 has led to an opportunity with the Adelaide 36ers, where he is currently a training player alongside many NBL1 Central talents. 

McCalop said he sees Alex Starling’s pathway as his way to break through into the NBL. 

The back-to-back Best Defensive Player and NBL1 Central champion signed with the 36ers after being naturalised in May, the 32-year-old has pioneered a proven pathway for McCalop. 

“I see Alex as paving the way for like somebody as myself who's now naturalised now, now (people like me) can see he's like made his way from the NBL1 into the NBL and he's transitioning well,” he said.

“For somebody like myself, I'm only 29, so I still have like a chance for somebody see what I’m like, see what I have and maybe give me a chance to show what I can do in the NBL.”

Training alongside NBL1 Central stars like Jacob Rigoni and Mitch McCarron, McCalop said that being in an NBL program has helped his game tremendously for the upcoming 2024 NBL1 season. 

“I've learned a lot just by like being around better players and an NBL organisation,” he said.

“So I've just been learning and being a sponge, everything that they're teaching me and just getting that NBL experience through the practices as well.” 

While his goal personally is to reach the NBL, McCalop is still driven to win an NBL1 Central title. He said last year’s Rockets team was a lot of fun to play on and the chemistry they built was an important factor going into next season. 

“It was really fun. (There) was a lot of passion and a lot of athleticism that we got to share with each other,” he said.

“No one was selfish, no one was like ‘I'm trying to get mine’. I feel like we were all a bit late, but we all came together and figured out okay, this is what we're gonna do.”

The Rockets were two wins outside the NBL1 Central Finals race last season, and with the team re-signing a large contingent of their core already from last season, he sees his Rockets as a possible title contender for the 2024 season. 

“Now that I'm naturalised, we can get two more Americans and we could add on to that,” he said.

“I feel like we'll have a good chance to make a push and playoff push and even be championship contenders.”