Hoffman excels in first season overseas

Former Mitchell High School girls’ basketball standout Jeana Hoffman recently returned from her first season of professional basketball overseas, and things couldn’t have gone much better for the former University of South Dakota guard.

Hoffman, who helped lead USD to the NCAA Division II national title game in 2008, continued her career this season for a team in Leiderdorp, Holland.

Hoffman averaged a team-high 21 points per game to go with six rebounds. Her scoring average was second in the league, and she was named the MVP of her team by its sponsor, Wereldtickets.nl.

“They made a plaque that will hang in our gym, and even though I’m not going to be back with them next year, that will be something where it’s nice to know I made my mark on their team,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman played for BV Leiderdorp in the highest league in Holland. The team made a late-season push for the playoffs, but just missed with a ninth-place finish.

Hoffman said she won’t be back with Leiderdorp again next season, but is looking to possibly get offers from teams in other leagues in other countries.

“It definitely was a good experience for me and I still love the game a lot,” she said. “Right now I’m just kind of keeping my options open.”

Hoffman, who played shooting guard at USD while her twin sister Jenna ran the point, moved to point guard for Leiderdorp. Hoffman said she thinks she’s more suited to play the two-guard spot, like she did in college, though the switch certainly didn’t affect her scoring average.

Hoffman said there were also slight differences between the American style of play and the European game. The biggest difference, she said, was the 24-second shot clock in Europe as opposed to the 30-second shot clock in the NCAA, which made the game a lot faster.

“I would say there was a lot more two-man game, or even more individual-type penetrate and kick, and things like that,” she said. “A lot of that had to do with the 24-second shot clock. It was also very physical, but I knew that going in.”

Hoffman said the biggest adjustments came off the court, mostly in terms of learning the language, the culture, and even just finding her way around town. However, the hardest part might have been spending such an extended period of time away from her family and boyfriend.

However, her parents were able to visit for about a week in November to see a game, and all of her sisters were able to visit her at some point as well. Jenna got to stay long enough to see the team’s last four games and even practiced with the team.

“That was really great,” Hoffman said of the visits from her parents and sisters. “It really made the trip that much better.”

Tags: jeana hoffman, sports, holland