Before DeAndre Lansdowne returned to professional basketball in Europe, he wanted some assurances. He found that in France.
Lansdowne, Fort Lewis College’s all-time leading scorer and a 2007 graduate of Sandia High School in Albuquerque, signed a one-year contract Monday with SIG Strasbourg to play in France’s top league – Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB). With SIG Strasbourg, Lansdowne also will get a chance to play in the Champions League that features 32 teams from across Europe.
“I’m really excited to play in France,” Lansdowne said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It’s a very fast, up-tempo, athletic game in France. I am going to one of the most prestigious clubs in Europe with the opportunity to put my name on the map.
“The team sought me out as an American they wanted to sign. They wanted to bring in my leadership and maturity off the court and on the court. It’s going to be a great opportunity to showcase my skills.”
Lansdowne, fresh off his 31st birthday celebration, is a 6-foot-2 shooting guard. His career has taken him from NCAA Division II at FLC to the professional ranks in Mexico, Germany, Italy and now France. He played in Germany’s top league from 2017 to 2019 before he joined Serie A league play in Italy with Brescia for the 2019-20 season.
He had averaged 18.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game during the 2018-19 season in Germany with Braunschweig.
With Brescia, Lansdowne got his first taste of EuroCup international action and performed well while adjusting to a different style of play. He averaged 13.3 points, three rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in Serie A league play, while he averaged 10.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the EuropCup.
Brescia sat in third place in the Serie A standings before the season was eventually canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some leagues across Europe are getting ready to resume seasons, Italy’s top league opted to cancel the season, and Lansdowne’s one-year contract was complete.
“I have to look forward now,” Lansdowne said. “It’s a little sad leaving Brescia. We were in third place, and I think we had a really good chance to end the season on a good run, but we didn’t get the opportunity. I would have loved a chance to play in the league finals. I want to get that opportunity to play in the playoffs. It’s something you always hope to do with every team you play for, but I’ve got to move forward and get myself ready now for what my new team needs from me and put Italy in the past for now.”
As he returned to the U.S., Lansdowne said he would look for stability in his next team. He wanted to go to a team he knew could pay promised salaries to players coming out of the economic hardship the coronavirus pandemic has caused.
“France, I think, is going to be financially the strongest coming out of this and the safest country when it comes to what we could possibly deal with again if another wave hits this fall or winter,” Lansdowne said. “They’re very well respected with how well they take care of finances, and everything is taken care of. I’m getting decent money to play after a pandemic.”
While SIG Strasbourg was the right fit for Lansdowne, he also appears to be the exact player head coach Lassi Tuovi had hoped to sign this offseason.
“DeAndre is a (guard) who fits perfectly into a collective game but who is also capable of taking responsibility on the (court). He is a motivated defender and a very good interceptor,” Tuovi, the team’s first-year head coach from Finland, said in a news release. “It will bring us scoring. He has proven in the past that he has the ability to be a top scorer in Germany and Italy. One of the most important things for us comes from the feedback we have had about his personality. He will bring us experience, leadership and a great work ethic. His career is an example for others. He showed season after season that he wanted to progress and to show that he wanted to become better.”
SIG Strasbourg, founded in 1929, hit its stride in the LNB with five consecutive runner-up finishes from 2013-17 and a third-place finish in 2018. The team also won the French Cup during the 2014-15 and 2017-18 seasons and made a Champions League quarterfinal appearance in 2018.
Last season, the team finished 10th in the 18-team LNB standings with a 10-14 record. Strasbourg was 4-10 in group play in the Champions League and did not qualify for the playoffs.
Team director Nicola Alberani echoed Tuovi’s sentiment about Lansdowne’s character on and off the court and how it can help SIG Strasbourg next season as it tries to compete with the top teams in the LNB such as Monaco and Lyon-Villeurbanne.
“We are very happy that DeAndre has agreed to come and play with us. He was our No. 1 target as a (shooting guard),” Alberani said in the news release. “He is someone who has a very good personality. He has the mentality of a true professional, and he will be an important element in our team. We are delighted that he understood the project we are trying to set up and that (he) decided to join us. It is a great pleasure to welcome him to the club.”
Lansdowne, always an elite scorer, said he is eager for the high-paced style of play in France and believes it will set him up for another standout season.
“I can play a lot of different styles after playing in a few different countries,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing where I grow as a player this season and in the Champions League.”
Lansdowne, who splits his offseasons between Albuquerque and Durango, will be back to Colorado this week. He will continue to train with FLC associate head coach Daniel Steffensen, his former teammate with the Skyhawks, as well as fellow FLC alum Lucas Archuleta in New Mexico.
“It’s been nice to have a little vacation, step away from basketball, but it’s time to hit the pedals and start working on the game again,” he said. “I’ll have about two months now to expand my game and get ready for the new season.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
