By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Back in college, after two years with the Towson Tigers, Justin Gorham decided to transfer to the University of Houston, joining the Cougars. Forced to miss one full campaign due to transfer rules, he could have made his debut only in the 2019-20 season.
He didn’t have enough time to spend minutes on the court next to Armoni Brooks and Corey Davis Jr., both departing from college in 2019 and who are now his opponents, respectively in Milan and Cremona.
The 1998-born forward did have time to be coached by Kelvin Sampson, for two consecutive seasons, leaving the Houston Cougars in 2021. Among the things he learned from the decades-long experienced head coach, also an NBA assistant in Milwaukee and Houston, there’s the saying “Attitude and Effort”.
That’s exactly what he wrote on X (previously Twitter) following his 34-PIR winning performance over Promitheas Patras, dragging Derthona with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
“There are always two things you can control: your attitude towards the game and how much effort you put into the game. This is what I’ve based my basketball career on: you get a good attitude, and you have positive results. If you make a good effort, you’ll have maximum outcomes,” Gorham told Eurohoops.
Despite only four years of playing professional overseas basketball, speaking with the Maryland native seems like having a conversation with a 20+ year veteran. And his playing effort displays why.
Attitude and Effort 🫡 https://t.co/L48BdqH8V5
— Justin Gorham (@JustinG4_) March 12, 2025
Stepping up in March, when flowers blossom
In only their second season playing in the Basketball Champions League – and generally in an International competition – the small city of Tortona is dreaming big.
Hosting the unbeaten AEK, already qualified for the BCL Quarter-Finals with a 4-0 record in Group I, a win over the black-and-gold Greek powerhouse would be extremely important on the potential way to make their presence felt among the best eight teams of the competition.
In their previous matchup this season, things turned in AEK’s direction only in the latest minutes of the fourth quarter, with Dragan Sakota’s team getting the upper hand by winning 93-86.
“AEK is a very well-balanced team, with Prentiss Hubb, Hunter Hale; then they got Kuzminskas and [RaiQuan] Gray, and [Grant] Golden at the 5, who’s a unique center who can not just score but get other guys involved,” Justin Gorham said about their upcoming opponent.
“We played a good game, we didn’t win but we didn’t play a bad game at AEK; we were a couple of possessions away from winning that game. We need to find the rhythm we have been playing the last couple of games, locking on the scouting report. We’ll be very prepared for this game,” he promised.
Even in that loss, he had a solid night of 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists, trying to contribute before the break. Once the action returned after the break in February, he stepped up big time.
In back-to-back wins over Promitheas Patras, he has had 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game; overall, in this Basketball Champions League season, he’s been shooting extremely well in two-pointers (65.5%), and at the line (96.2%), while also stretching up the floor well (43.8% from deep).
His March started with a 35-point eruption over Italian Cup winner Trento, as he discovered new responsibilities and offensive duties to fill the gap left by Arturs Strautins’ long-time injury.
“It was unfortunate for Arturs to go down with the injury. He was one of our key players, one of our leading scorers, and a good defender. He was a key part, and losing him was tough. I know I had to step up. Throughout the season I’ve been battling with injuries, not very consistent,” he said.
Derthona’s glue guy delivering after frozen February
But if March brought Spring, sun, and blossoming flowers up the trees in Northern Italy, February was all about freezing cold and bad results, as Derthona entered a six-game losing streak among all competitions since late January. That’s when the locker room got strengthened even more.
“Our strength of the whole team is not exactly a skill on the court but our locker room. Every guy never has a death face, when we were on a six-game losing streak everybody was still positive, and we still attacked every practice trying to get practice,” Gorham said.
“We got Kyle Weems and Paul [Biligha], we call them our vets, they keep us together, we have input on things, the coach listens to us, and we have tough meetings. But at the end of the data, we just want to win games. Our locker room is our strength, we’re all united.”
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“It’s winding down to the end of the season, this is the time you need to find your flow and play at your best. I’ve tried to take it game by game, go out there, control what I can control, and bring whatever I can to the team,” Gorham affirmed.
However, over the course of his career, Justin Gorham has never had the brightest of spotlights on him. Once again under head coach Kelvin Sampson in Houston, he learned how to be the perfect connecting-dot to trust for the team to put together all the pieces in order to be successful.
“Every team needs a glue guy: you’re gonna have your scorers, your facilitators. But you need somebody to do the dirty work, go crashing the offensive glass, and make winning plays. That’s what I tried to take pride in. When you do those little things, your offensive game comes along. I just try to focus on the little things. Every team needs a glue guy, I just try to be that guy.”
Sharing the court with Kyle Weems and Christian Vital
Speaking about glue guys and veterans, he’s playing right next to one of them, who has made his overseas career all about making the right plays and adjustments to capture his teams’ fans. Especially by wearing another black-and-white jersey in Italy.
“Kyle [Weems] is my big brother. I was familiar with Kyle even before joining Tortona; it’s funny because I started my rookie year in Bonn and Kyle did it as well. When I was in Bonn, I used to hear a lot of “We haven’t had a productive rookie since Kyle Weems,” and I was following him along: I watched EuroCup, and EuroLeague, and he was a glue guy to those Virtus Bologna teams,” Gorham said.
“He did the little things, if he gets going his offensive game comes along but he’s first going to play defense. I was always a fan of Kyle, he walked with me when I signed, and he was the first person who hit me up to tell me about the coach, and the city,” he added.
“He’s a good veteran to have in the team, to talk to you when things aren’t going well, or talk to you about European basketball and his experiences.”
Interviewed by Rytas Vilnius once getting to Lithuania in March 2023, he affirmed he wanted to be the “Best rebounder there was”, putting rebounding as one of his main priorities.
“It’s really mental: you just go after the ball. Rebounding is 60% how bad you want it and 40% skill. If you want the ball, you gonna go attacking the offensive and defensive glass. It’s how bad you want it: that’s what I think of rebounding,” he said.
Kiss of Death 😘🖤 @JustinG4_ pic.twitter.com/zlRaFONr7c
— Derthona Basket (@DerthonaBasket) January 20, 2025
While putting the glue guy clothes in Derthona’s closet for some recent games, Justin Gorham has always seen a prolific scoring contribution from one of his teammates since the start of the season.
“CV, how we call him, is a dynamic guard, scorer, tough player. I’m familiar with him because we competed a lot in college, those UConn vs Houston games,” he said.
Indeed, Christian Vital has been averaging as many as 16.o points per game in the Basketball Champions League. over 49.0% from two, 42.9% from three, and 90.0% at the charity stripe.
“He’s a good player, it’s fun now playing with him than playing against him: he’s gonna talk some cash, he’s hard to play against. But I love playing with him, I’m glad we are on the same side now,” Gorham added.
But who could be the best offensive scorer in the competition not named Christian Vital? “Other than CV, I’d say the guy from Wurzburg, Jhivvan Jackson. He’s a good scorer. Hunter Hale, who we face this week, it’s a lot of good guards. But I’m always gonna say my teammates playing the best,” Gorham asked.
“I like Tenerife, of course, Malaga… a lot of good teams. Galatasaray. It’s a competitive league right now, and Reggio is playing well. It’s a lot of good teams [in the Basketball Champions League].”
Entering the history books in the “land of basketball”
Before getting to Europe in 2021 to sign with Telekom Baskets Bonn, as previously mentioned, Justin Gorham tried to make a name for himself in the NCAA with the Houston Cougars.
Next to him, there was Fabian White Jr., who has been shining this season for Manisa in Turkiye; they were both introduced into the Best Team of Week 4 in the BCL Round of 16, proving once again that life really does unpredictable things on a daily basis.
“Fabian is a layback guy, he’s a good basketball player. We are actually in the same position group, we’re similar in the game. He’s a year younger than me, he came over to Europe after me but he asked me about European basketball and everything I explained to him,” Gorham mentioned.
“He will have a bright career. He’s a tough guy, a tough stretch big who plays physical but also steps outside to shoot the three. Sky’s the limit for Fabian and I’m proud to see his success.”
Moving to Germany, he witnessed in first person the year that started to put Tuomas Iisalo on the big map of International basketball. In 2021-22, Bonn had a first season of early successes, that would have become massive the following year by winning the Basketball Champions League.
“[Being coached by Tuomas Iisalo] was good. Sometimes in my rookie year, I didn’t appreciate it as much, but looking back on it I’m glad he was my first coach to introduce me to European basketball because his principles are still useful to this day,” Gorham said of the Finnish mastermind.
“We might have different systems, but things that are taught, I was taught early. I’m not too far behind. He was a great coach, and really helped me develop how to find my niche over here in Europe.”
IM A MF CHAMP 🏆
— Justin Gorham (@JustinG4_) June 12, 2024
Back in Germany, one of his closest teammates was Parker Jackson-Cartwright, the so-called “TJ Shorts before TJ Shorts.” “I saw one article that called him TJ Shorts 2.0, but it was PJC before TJ Shorts. Any guard in a [Tuomas] Iisalo’s system is gonna do well,” Gorham said.
At the moment, the dynamic American guard is trying to extend the Basketball Champions League campaign with Rytas Vilnius, a pretty familiar place for Justin Gorham. “I remember when they texted me about it, and I was like “Oh yeah, this is going to be a fit,” he said.
“He was my best friend during my rookie year. He’s a good player, it’s gonna take some time because it’s not easy transitioning to a new team. But it’s gonna take them to new heights: how fast he is, how much pressure he puts on defense, and he’s a good defender. I’m excited to see him keep playing with Rytas.”
At the end of the day, Justin Gorham will always reserve a special place for the Lithuanian side in his heart, being the protagonist of an LKL championship run against the favorite Zalgiris Kaunas.
“My experience in Lithuania was amazing. I had a Lithuanian teammate in Bonn [Saulius Kulvietis], and I wasn’t too familiar with Lithuania. I made not a rude remark, but I remember asking him “Lithuania, where is that?”, and he was like: “The land of basketball.”
“When I went to Lithuania, I really saw what he was talking about: the basketball culture, the fans are always behind you. It was amazing, it was an amazing run; we didn’t start the season well, we didn’t compete in the BCL like we wanted to, but at the end of the season, we just found a stride and had an amazing post-season. Winning that championship is a memory I’ll always remember,” he recalled.
Putting his attitude and effort as the glue guy wherever he’s playing, Justin Gorham has a new goal in mind: bringing the exciting and future-oriented project shaped in Tortona to unprecedented highs. Starting with AEK, these upcoming weeks could turn into another significant memory.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League