By Alan Caldwell

Team captain for the Glasgow Rocks, Jonny Bunyan, graduated last year from UWS after studying for four years at the university where he completed a course in Sports Development. Speaking about his time at UWS, Jonny highlighted how important he feels it is for a professional basketball player in the UK to have that education and degree to fall back on after there playing careers.

He said:“To get that degree it’s super important, I can’t stress that enough, thankfully when I applied to UWS they were quite flexible with me maybe having to miss lectures due to training and that was great because it gave me the chance to go to uni which I didn’t think I was going to get. In terms of basketball in Scotland, it’s not enough money be set up for life therefore that education side is crucial.”

Spending a full four years at UWS, Jonny has not only been successful with his classroom studies but also on the court for UWS’ BUCS team, where he has helped them climb up the BUCS ladder, adding points on to the board for the university, showing that the partnership that the Rocks and UWS share is mutually beneficial for both institutions, as the club allows UWS students to get valuable work experience and the University allows Rocks players the opportunity to come study whilst also giving a bit back by helping UWS climb up the prestigious BUCS ladder.

Another example of the Rocks and UWS working together can be seen through the lockdown period where due to the rulings in Scotland, all Rock’s players had to self-isolate for two weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. This left with the Rocks at a massive disadvantage as they where the only Scottish based team in BBL having to follow these rules, however, to help out with this UWS, who have a facility based in the velodrome arena, allowed the Rocks to use this space and train.

It may have been a small gesture, but it’s something the players would’ve been grateful for, which Jonny reiterated: “It doesn’t sound like much allowing (us) to use a gym but it makes a big difference. UWS have been quite free with letting us use them and it really is a great set of equipment that’s in there.”