Travis McAvene: 26 Years, Eight Countries, and What Overseas Basketball Actually Pays

Travis McAvene got his first overseas head coaching job in Taiwan because Kobe Bryant's dad backed out at the last minute.

Travis started coaching right out of NAIA college basketball in 1998. He became one of the youngest head college coaches in the country. By 2012 he was U.S. Minor League Coach of the Year, which opened the Taiwan door. Over 26 years he has coached in eight countries across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Central America and the Caribbean. He has competed against Olympic national teams at the Jones Cup and won his last five seasons in the Dominican Republic. This August he starts a new head role in the Caribbean Basketball League in Cancun.

For any coach or player thinking about going overseas, this is the textbook on what the money pays and what agents cost. And what it takes to survive a job where imports can be sent home after two weeks.

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