Play basketball in America
Two kids from our gym on Østerbro have gone to North America. We coached them both for years before they went. Now we are adding help with the move itself: we get the player ready, then we help get them there.
Every player named
Some placement websites show a 99 percent success rate and cannot name one kid they sent anywhere. Every player we help goes on this page by name, with the school and the year.
Malthe joined our Academy for the year and we ran the process with him. He went to Fort Erie International Academy and then Orangeville Prep in Ontario. Valdemar played for Talata Men, and we set up his move to The Patrick School basketball program in New Jersey this fall. Johan came up through the club from the very first season. We built the player, and his family ran the move.
Who does what. We do the evaluation, the film, the profile and the relationship, because we see the player every week. The placement itself runs through established placement partners, who handle school matching, admissions and the visa. We stay in it the whole way, and we stay on the phone once they land.
Players
This is the full list. When it grows, it grows here.
Johan Lyager Joensen
Johan is one of the originals. He was on the floor in Talata's first season, back when the club was twenty kids and one team. This year he is off to Martins Ferry High School in Ohio to play for the Purple Riders. He goes at fifteen.
- Now at: Martins Ferry High School, Ohio, USA
- Team: the Purple Riders
- At Talata: since 2024, Academy, U15 and U17
- Our part: we built the player. His family ran the move
Malthe Mikkelsen
Malthe joined the Talata Academy for the year, and we took him through the process. He committed to Orangeville Prep at fifteen. He started 2025/26 at Fort Erie International Academy, then moved to Orangeville Prep, one of the top prep programmes in North America and a regular feeder into NCAA Division 1.
- Went to: Fort Erie International Academy, then Orangeville Prep, Ontario, Canada
- Season: 2025/26
- Age at commitment: 15
- Our part: he came to our Academy for that year and we ran the process with him
Valdemar Scharfe
Valdemar came to Talata in 2022 and played for Talata Men this season. At the start of October he left to train with The Patrick School basketball program in New Jersey, one of the best known high school programs in the United States.
- Went to: The Patrick School basketball program, New Jersey, USA
- Season: fall 2026
- At Talata: since 2022, Talata Men in 2026/27
- Our part: we set the move up with him
Two more players have gone from our men's side into the Danish 1. division. That is a step up at home, so they are on the pathway page.
Routes
Most families arrive asking about one of these, and often it is the wrong one for now. First we work out which road the player is on.
High school and prep, USA and Canada
The most common way into American college basketball, and the road Johan is on. School matching, admissions, host family or dorm, and the visa paperwork that comes with it.
USA · CanadaClubs and academies in Europe
Sometimes the right step up is a short flight away. Spanish and other European academies take young players seriously, the basketball education is excellent, and a fifteen year old stays in the same time zone as home.
Spain · EuropeCollege basketball in the USA
NCAA Division 1 and 2, NAIA and JUCO. Eligibility, academics and tape, sorted early. The academic side ends more of these than the basketball side does.
USARepresentation
The placement paperwork goes through established partners. A pro contract goes to a FIBA licensed agent we check first. We stay the coach in the room.
PartnersWho we know
We placed Malthe and Valdemar. Johan trained with us, and his family set up his move. We know the coaches at the rest.
Mono, Ontario, Canada · OSBA
New Jersey, USA · high school basketball program
Toronto, Canada · NBA
Memphis, USA · NBA
Mississauga, Canada · G LeagueCanada · pro, CEBL
Canada · university, U SPORTS Canada West
Denmark · every Basketligaen club
Lithuania · LKL, NKL and RKL
Canada · college, ACACCanada · prep
USA
Sweden
Indonesia
Japan
Our Canada camp runs in Lethbridge. Coach Deng played at Mount Royal in Calgary and Coach Jordan played Division 1 at Wyoming, so a lot of these are in Alberta. None of them sponsor or endorse Talata.
How it works
It starts with a conversation between you, the player and Deng. What the family wants and what the player wants can be two different things, and it is better to find that out now.
Then an evaluation from the coaches who see the player every week, with measured numbers. If the answer is "not yet", you hear it here. The conversation and the evaluation are free.
Before anyone commits, you get a plan with the full cost on it: tuition, flights, insurance, all of it, up front.
Then the profile and film: a measured profile sheet, a cut highlight reel, and full games, uncut. The reel gets a coach to look. The full games show what a player does when the ball is somewhere else.
We go to programmes we know, or ones our contacts in that market know. Fit comes first. The biggest name is the wrong name for most players.
Admissions, visa and landing are handled by our partner agency, with us in every conversation. We stay in touch once they are out there, because the first three months abroad are the hard bit.
Who does this
Deng Awak
Head coach. Founded Talata in 2021, coached both of the players above, and sits in every one of these conversations himself.
Jordan Naughton
Played NCAA Division 1 at the University of Wyoming, then turned pro in Denmark with BK Amager. He coaches our Academy. When a fifteen year old asks what it takes, Jordan answers.
Partner agencies
The placement process runs through established agencies we work with. A pro contract goes to a FIBA licensed agent we check first. The club is the coach, the agency is the agent.
Ground rules
- We tell you when your kid is not ready. A clear answer is the most useful thing on this page.
- Nobody can promise a scholarship. We won't, and anyone who does is selling you something.
- You get names you can check. We never put a percentage on it.
- It has to be right for the player, at the right age. Being able to afford it is no reason to send a young player abroad. Done wrong, it is an expensive way to fall out of love with the game.
Questions
- How does a Danish player end up in an American high school? Almost always through prep or high school first, then college. You need tape, measured numbers, school grades and someone on the other end who knows the programme. That is the whole job.
- How old should they be? Fifteen or sixteen is the usual window for high school and prep. Younger than that and we will normally tell you to wait, and why.
- What does it cost? It depends on the school and how much aid comes with it. You get the full number, including flights and insurance, before anyone signs anything.
Get in touch
Send us the player's age, where they play now, and what you are hoping for. We will tell you whether it is a road worth taking.
Email Coach DengThe College and Academy Camp on 28 to 30 December is three days of this same evaluation, with a measured profile, filmed games and a written assessment at the end.