Basketball -- WV's Strait plans to play in Austria

YAKIMA -- When Andrew Strait left Yakima for the University of Montana four years ago, one of the things the West Valley graduate liked about that move was being only a days' drive from home.

Well, Strait is on the move again and you can forget the road trip.

The 23-year-old sharp-shooting power forward has verbally agreed to a one-year contract with a pro team in Austria. He expects to sign the contract today and depart for the central European country next week.

"I've never even been out of the country so it's a big move," Strait said on Saturday. "After college the next step for me was Europe and I thought it would be Spain. But Austria came into the picture last week and I think it's the right fit."

Strait was thinking Spain because his agent is from that country, but his resume was circulated throughout the European leagues and Kraftwerk Wels of Austria liked what they saw.

"I've talked with their coach, who talked with my coach at Montana, and it looks like it will work well for both of us," said the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Strait. "They're looking for me to play the four (power forward), get physical on defense and grab some rebounds. At Montana I was stuck mostly playing the five (center) so this will be a change I'm looking forward to."

In his final season at Montana, Strait averaged 13.3 points and 6.6 rebounds and ranked first in the Big Sky Conference for field-goal percentage. His scoring percentage of 63.8 (166 of 260) ranked sixth in the nation among NCAA Division I players.

Strait has been in Yakima this summer, training for just such an opportunity in Europe. He is a Human Biology major who intends on returning to Missoula to complete his degree when his playing career is over.

After spring classes, Strait contacted a European agent, who then began the marketing process. The preseason for most European leagues begins in September and the regular season concludes in the spring.

"All this happened pretty quickly in the last few days," Strait said of the Austrian contact. "They've got a couple American players and the coach speaks pretty good English, so that was comforting. It should be a great experience."

The Kraftwerk Wels team is based 100 miles west of Vienna and it competes in Austria's premier A League.

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