The Traveling Basketball Player

By Jeana Esernio You’ve probably noticed Stuart “Stu” McEwen on campus before. At 6’9” he is hard to miss. As a friendly and outgoing guy, you probably think you know him, but there’s a lot you may not know.
McEwen was born in Sydney, Australia, and has lived and traveled to places such as New Zealand, China, Thailand, Europe, and America. The one thing these places have in common for him is basketball.
McEwen grew up with basketball. His dad, Ross McEwen played professional basketball in New Zealand. Both his brothers, one younger and one older, also played basketball. McEwen started playing when he was 5 years old.

“My dad may have brainwashed us.” McEwen said.

His life included countless practices and games, and plenty of competition between him and his brothers.

“Before my oldest brother got injured, he was probably the best basketball player in the family. But I beat him once in a one on one game and I’ll never play him again.” McEwen said.

McEwen has been playing basketball the longest in his family. At 22, he’s played ball in six countries, including China, which was one of his favorite experiences so far.

“The Chinese government paid for my team to play games over in China for four weeks. It was really cool because I got to play a game in front of 10,000 people.”

But after it all, McEwen has settled down at Stonehill College’s DII basketball program in Massachusetts.

Although the U.S is far from his home town, McEwen is used to being away from his friends and family.

“My family is split into four different countries. My mom and dad live in Thailand, My younger brother is in Australia, my older brother is in New Zealand, and i’m in the U.S.” McEwen said.
“I wanted to play in the U.S and get the college experience. In Australia it’s different. People don’t live on campus, they commute. I wanted to study and play sports and get the living experience,” McEwen said.

His basketball coach in Australia helped him find the right fit for him overseas. He was originally going to play at Holy Family in Philadelphia, but the coach got fired before he made the move so he settled with a year of prep school first.

After prep school, McEwen attended Old Dominion University, but had a rocky year. His coach at Old Dominion got fired halfway through their season. McEwen then wanted to find a more stable environment.

“I wanted to transfer after my first year. My prep school coach suggested Stonehill because he knew the assistant coach, which helped me with my transition,” McEwen said.

So after one year in Virginia, he made the move to Massachusetts. So far it’s been the right choice, he said.

“I love playing with the team, we are all really close. I like the coach, too. He’s pretty young and he understands what we’re all going through.” McEwen said.

McEwen loves basketball, but if he didn’t play it, he said he would probably be acting. “I took to school plays when I was younger. I enjoy making people laugh and being in front of people.”

Although, with two years of college left, McEwen hopes his basketball career isn’t over yet.

“If I could play basketball back home in New Zealand after I graduate, I would.”

But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t consider his other options, either.

“I’ve been thinking about working in the States a lot lately, too. I’ve made really good friends here and my degree will be for America,” McEwen said.