BASKETBALL ace Joel Freeland has signed up with Farnham Town – but don’t expect to see him running out for the Combined Counties League side...

Although his 6ft 10in frame could come in handy up front or in the middle of defence, the former Farnham Heath End School pupil – one of the most successful basketball players the UK has produced – will stay firmly on the sidelines.

Freeland has agreed to become an ambassador for the ambitious club – and admits he is excited to see how Town progress over the next few years.

“I played for Farnham when I was a junior and really enjoyed it,” he said.

“But I broke my leg when I was about 14 and I couldn’t play for about a year. When I came back, I realised lads had grown a lot in that year and the tackles by the 15 and 16-year-olds were flying in from all over, and I decided perhaps this wasn’t for me...

“I was getting into basketball by then, so I followed that route.”

Freeland had several years playing professionally in Spain but his potential had been noticed in America, when he was drafted to the NBA, the biggest basketball scene on Earth.

“Being drafted basically meant they recognised me as someone who might turn out okay,” said Freeland, who is now 33.

He signed for the Portland Trail Blazers and spent three years at the club, earning wages of around ten million dollars in that time in the cash-rich competition.

“It was something I had dreamed of – it’s what every basketball player dreams of,” he said.

But his time in the States was plagued by injury. “It took me a while to get minutes on court, but then I broke through and had a run of a couple of months of being a regular starter.

“Those six or seven games were fantastic and I was playing really well – and then in a game at Atlanta I jumped up to block a shot and damaged muscles in my arm, and that was me out for three months.”

He left the NBA to play professionally in Russia for CSKA Moscow.

“I did have offers to remain at the NBA but none of the clubs were offering the same kind of deal I could get in Russia,” he said. “It was the correct decision for me – I was injured again early on, damaging a calf, and out of the game for nine months.”

During those two years at CSKA the club won the EuroLeague. “It was hard for me as the club had moved on and taken on players to replace me while I was injured, so getting game time was tough,” he said.

He retired from the game aged 30, and now spends his time – lockdown permitting – between the UK and Spain.

“I started quite late in the sport but I packed quite a lot in,” he says. “I played for GB in the London Olympics and that was a lot of fun.

“People forget we did very well in that event – we lost to Spain, the second-best country in the world, by one point, lost to Brazil by five, led Australia at half-time before losing, and ran Russia close.

“But after the tournament, UK Sport cut basketball’s funding.”

Freeland spends his time making property investments and is involved on the sidelines with the Surrey Scorchers basketball team based in Guildford. He aims to move home and return to Farnham.

Town’s commercial manager Ed Kelsing – who used to play alongside Freeland for Farnham’s juniors – said: “Having Joel as an ambassador is great for us. We are very ambitious and as we climb the leagues, we can tap into his knowledge of professional sport.

“Joel came to a couple of games last season and enjoyed it. We have told him the kind of plans we have, and he was keen to see if he could help.

“Farnham has quite a few top sports stars and it’s nice when they appreciate what we are trying to achieve for the town, and want to help.

“I played in the same team as Joel years ago. He went on to the NBA – we ended up staying and playing football in Surrey...”