Jay Couisnard – He’s Got That Loving Feeling

Leicester Riders guard Jay Couisnard is lighting up the league this season for the current BBL Championship leaders, with his defensive qualities complimenting his energetic abilities on offense. Averaging 12.96 points and 6.24 rebounds per-game, the 24-year-old has forged part of Riders’ strong team, which last weekend celebrated an entire calendar year without defeat on their home floor.

However, things could have been so very different from Couisnard. A graduate of the University of Missouri Kansas City, Couisnard suffered a severe knee injury in the final year of college. The result; he missed all of last year’s season, with his basketball career hanging on by a thread.

“Six games before the end of my college season, I went up for a dunk and I was undercut,” he explains.

“I ended up tearing my knee up and I was out all of last season with a pretty bad knee injury. I actually did my rehab with Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings running back), who had just won MVP in the NFL and together, with the trainer, I got back running.

“In many ways, it was a blessing in disguise,” Jay continues.

“I was able to take time off and spend time with my family, which going to school 16 hours away from home, I didn’t get chance to do. And now, I’m in the most perfect spot I could be in, as far as my basketball career is concerned.”

Speaking to Couisnard, happiness is the one emotion that is a constant; even when he speaks about a tough time out injured. Whilst, by his own admission, he will never get used to the weather in the UK, he is enjoying the success gained with Rob Paternostro’s Riders so far this year, playing alongside a group of experienced performers.

“This is the most enjoyment I’ve had playing basketball so far – and a lot of it comes from the winning factor,” says Jay.

“I’ve been on teams with a lot of good friends and played on good teams where we have had a lot of fun, but you can’t compare that to winning.

“I’ve just won a championship (BBL Cup) and I haven’t done that since my sophomore year in high school. There is no greater feeling than winning a championship in the league you’re playing in. It’s a blessing to be on a team with these guys.

“Coming to Leicester and playing alongside guys like Zaire Taylor, Drew Sullivan and Yorrick Williams – people that have championships and that have dominated the leagues they’ve played in – it was kind of refreshing. I’ve not had this feeling in six years; winning and going out feeling confident about having a good chance of winning the next game. We want to win every game and this is the first time I’ve felt like this in a long time. I don’t need to worry about what I have to do to win a game, because we have 11 other players that can help us win a game, even if I don’t play well.

“This is a blessing; I actually love this feeling right now.”

Basketball has been a constant in Couisnard’s life. Growing up in Houston, Texas, basketball is a family game and it was Jay wanted to do in all of his spare time, enjoying the ability to practice with his father and older brother. Even today, whilst he plays basketball in Leicester, members of his family play the game around the globe.

“My dad played basketball, my older brother played basketball – both of them played at Wichita State – and I have a younger sister that is playing basketball in Tulsa right now, so the game runs through our family,” he explains.

“I also have a cousin, Elijah Johnson, who plays at Kansas! When you see all of your older relatives doing it, I guess you have no other choice than to jump in and join in the game. I started when I was four-years-old, going out and working out with my older brother at something like 4:00am. Then I would also do basketball drills with my dad, so ever since then, the love and the passion for the game was always there.

“Basketball was never forced on me or anything like that. Growing up in America, basketball is all you see on TV – and if you grew up in the Michael Jordan age, as I did, the Chicago Bulls was the only team that was on. Everybody wanted to play basketball and be like Michael Jordan!

“My favourite player was Reggie Miller. I didn’t really care what Michael Jordan was doing! I wanted to be like Reggie; he was my favourite player of all time. Every morning with my brothers, I would put on my Reggie Miller gear and I’d be anxious to work out with my dad. He’d still be talking, nobody was awake and I had school in a few hours, but I would be anxious to get outside to do some shooting drills with my dad and my oldest brothers. That was what we loved doing.”

Back at Leicester Riders, Couisnard is playing under one of the league’s most charismatic (not to mention animated) coaches in Rob Paternostro, a point guard himself in the BBL with Birmingham Bullets, Leicester Riders and Birmingham Panthers and admits he was taken aback by the Connecticut-born coach’s refreshing approach.

“I have the most respect for Coach Rob,” says Couisnard.

“He took me in, knowing that I had previously been injured. He worked with me and he let me pick my schedule when it came to how I wanted to handle things.

“You never see that in basketball; you rarely see a coach adjust to a player and Coach Rob, the first thing he did was adjust to me. He asked me how I felt, when I thought I should play, how hard I thought I should play. He instantly had all of my attention and all my respect.

“The way he coaches games and practice is perfect. He can appear aggravated on the sidelines, because he does get animated, but when you speak to him at the end of each quarter or during time outs, he is so calm. He is always encouraging; he’d never tell a player not to shoot, he always encourages players to stay aggressive because he has total faith in us as players.”

That faith has already brought with it reward. In January 2013, Leicester Riders won their first trophy in 12 years, successfully beating Newcastle Eagles 85-80 in the BBL Cup Final at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena – a game in which Jay Couisnard was named MVP.

Not content with just the one piece of silverware this year, the 6’6’’ guard is now looking ahead to the rest of the year, believing that his team can emulate Newcastle by winning everything on offer this season.

“With our team and the type of guys that we’ve got, we’ve got a strong group and a lot of talent,” he says.

“Winning isn’t a problem. We’ve lost a couple of games this year and when the teams beat us, we didn’t help that. When we play those teams again, we’re hunting for them and they’re the teams we’ve got something to prove against them. They’re not allowed to come and beat us, like they might think they are. The silverware is going to come and I have no doubt about that; I would never doubt the team I’m on and this year it’s one of the greatest teams that I have ever played on.”

Top of the BBL Championship table and already into the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy, doubt Jay Couisnard at your own risk.

Jay Couisnard has now launched his own official website, with news updates and links to his social media profiles. Take a look at jcousy3.com.