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22 June 2026  6 min read

Full Circle: Gabe Olaseni still chasing the next step with Great Britain

He was simply looking for something more exciting than standing in goal.

"Before finding basketball, I had been playing football, but I was always put in goal because I was so much taller than everybody, so I never got the chance to play another position and found it boring,” he said.

"Then one day I saw some kids playing basketball and it looked like so much fun, so I thought I'd try it and fell in love immediately."

More than two decades later, the 34-year-old remains one of the most respected figures in British basketball.

A veteran of the international game and a cornerstone of Great Britain's men's national team, his journey from East London courts to some of Europe's biggest arenas has been built on equal parts ambition, discipline and self-belief.

"I started to take the game more seriously maybe within a year," he recalled ahead of crucial World Cup qualifying window against Lithuania and Iceland.

"Football was too slow for me. The fast pace of basketball captivated me."

The coaches who shaped those early years remain important figures in his story.

First came Michael York, a former student at his secondary school who returned to coach younger players. Then Dave Lavinier at Eastside Eagles, whose recent passing was felt deeply throughout British basketball, before Mike Speranza at Uxbridge helped prepare him for the next stage of his development.

As his talent grew, so too did his ambition.

The defining moment came when he made the decision to leave home and spend a year at prep school in the United States.

"As soon as I decided to go to prep school for a year over in the States, that's when I made the decision I was going all-in on basketball," Olaseni said.

"If I was going to miss out on everything going on at home, it had to be worth it and not just be a one-year adventure."

That commitment extended beyond practices and games.

"The love for basketball heightened my focus even further on achieving that goal. I made so many changes to my life at a young age whether it was my diet or doing 100 push-ups a day, 100 sit-ups, whatever. Things that didn't necessarily help me at the time but all things that were building the mindset within me that I was going to do whatever it took to get where I wanted to be."

It was around that same period that another experience changed the way he viewed the sport.

Like many young British players of his generation, Olaseni attended the Luol Deng Camp at Uxbridge and found himself sharing a gym with some of the country's biggest basketball stars.

"The first time I was surrounded by kids of my age who loved the game as much as me was at Deng Camp," he said.

More importantly, it was the first time he saw the players he dreamed of becoming.

"Dan Clark was there, as well as Kieron Achara, Eric Boateng and Pops Mensah-Bonsu. It was incredible to see the national team in person."

Watching them up close shattered his perception of what elite basketball looked like.

"It was crazy seeing those guys working out because when they shot the ball they didn't miss. At that time if I was shooting 10 shots, I was happy if three or four of them went in and those guys were mad if they shot nine in a row and missed the 10th."

For a young player from East London, it made the dream feel tangible.

"That was the point where playing for GB became my goal. Having them there, seeing them, being able to almost touch them and observe the way they work, it made it feel possible and attainable."

As Olaseni broadened his horizons beyond his local environment, he also encountered other young British players whose skill levels challenged him to raise his own standards.

Meeting players such as Ryan Martin, Ryan Richards and Will Saunders gave him fresh perspective on the work still required to reach the highest level. It reinforced the lesson that natural physical gifts alone would never be enough.

That mindset has remained with him throughout a professional career that has spanned Europe and the international stage.

It has also been strengthened by something he believes has become one of the most important tools in his development: working with a sports psychologist.

"I've developed into a calmer persona as I've progressed in my career," he explained.

"I've worked with a sports psychologist since my third or fourth year to compartmentalise and break down why I might be feeling the way I'm feeling."

The result is a player who understands that nerves never disappear, even after years at the top level.

"I still feel nervous before a game," he said. "The work we've done has meant I can identify why I'm nervous and the affirmations I need to combat that."

For Olaseni, preparation creates freedom.

"I eat healthy, I sleep properly, I recover well, I do everything I'm supposed to, so I know with that in mind that whatever happens I can live with the results."

Now, his focus turns once again to Great Britain and a the World Cup qualifying window against Lithuania and Iceland.

"I feel good about the window," he said. "We have a good group of guys coming in with an established chemistry."

While qualification remains the immediate objective, Olaseni's perspective has evolved. As one of the senior figures in the squad, he is equally motivated by what success could mean for those coming behind him.

"I'm especially motivated to win for the young guys we have on the roster to give them the experience of playing in the next round against top teams like Serbia and Turkey."

He knows first-hand how transformative those opportunities can be.

"I remember being a younger player in my first EuroBasket against some of the best players and biggest names in the world. It really instils confidence in you."

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That is why the mission is clear.

"All our focus is on progressing to the next round. We have the group to do it."

First comes Lithuania, one of Europe's great basketball nations.

"Playing in a great basketball country like Lithuania in a big arena against some of the best players, you live for these moments," Olaseni said. "This is what we all work for."

Then comes a return to Manchester, where Great Britain will play in front of home fans for the first time since 2019.

"It's been special to take the team around the country during my career and see how basketball affects people all over Great Britain, especially the kids," he says. "Seeing their faces light up when we get to play in front of them and interact with them."

Years ago, Gabe Olaseni was one of those kids looking up at national team players and wondering if he could one day join them.

Now he returns home hoping to help create that same spark for the next generation.

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