Ben Woodside didn’t get drafted into the NBA last June. He played on the Minnesota Timberwolves summer league team but got few minutes. After he received an invitation to T’Wolves mini-camp, unsure if he would make the team, his agent called with an offer from BCM Gravelines, a team in the top men’s French professional basketball league. Woodside jumped on it and a plane to northern France.

Now, one year later, Woodside is back in the United States, tougher than ever, after playing the most physical opponents in the loudest arenas he has come across in his career.

In France, Woodside was welcomed with open arms. He joined BCM Gravelines as a rookie, a team that featured six other Americans, five French, a Nigerian, Jamaican and Burkinabe. All of Woodside’s teammates spoke English and helped him adapt to the French culture and game, making his transition into international play easier.

“The organization and my teammates helped me right away,” Woodside said. “They introduced me to France, what went on and the style of game.”

Despite the team’s locale in a city smaller than Albert Lea, BCM Gravelines had a devoted fan base, filling Woodside’s home arena, Gravelines Sportica, by the thousands and drowning it in orange t-shirts and the beat of drums.

“Our fans were unbelievable,” Woodside said. “A section of fans would bang on drums and scream during the entire game. After each win we would go shake their hands and they would be drenched in sweat; they were intense.”

During the French Cup championship game in Paris, BCM Gravelines fans filled 45 coach buses and brought 3,500 people the three and a half hour drive south, an image reminiscent of NDSU fans migrating from Fargo to Minneapolis, filling the Metrodome to watch Woodside lead the Bison in the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.

In that game against Kansas, Woodside made it look easy, sliding between future first-round draft picks Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich for uncontested layups, an easy two of his eventual 39 points; in France, it wasn’t always that simple.

In the French National Basketball League, players are allowed to be more physical than they are in college hoops and the NBA. Opposing guards were allowed to push Woodside with their forearms and there is no defensive three second rule, allowing players to camp out under the basket and wait to contest Woodside’s shots in the lane.

“That’s one of the main things I had to adjust to,” Woodside said. “It was harder to get around the defense and when I did I had to make a play over a big guy. They could contest my shot a lot faster.”

Once he did adjust, Woodside had no trouble finding the same success he experienced in the United States, quickly becoming a French league All-Star as a rookie and leading his team to a 20-10 regular season record.

“It felt good,” said Woodside, of being invited to the all-star game. “Definitely a humbling experience.”

The Albert Lea High School grad was not only popular enough on the court to be voted an all-star, but popular on the web, too, gaining an international audience through his blog “Inside My World.”

Woodside started his blog in October 2009 with the help of his former basketball coach, Matt Addington. By this summer his blog had over 30,000 views.

“I blogged for people back in the United States,” Woodside said. “Eventually more people from France were viewing it than from the U.S.”

Woodside is currently taking some time off after the long eight month season but will begin training again soon with the hopes of making an NBA team this summer.

His first step will be playing with the Golden State Warriors’ summer league team July 8-19 in Las Vegas. There, he will not only get a chance to impress the Warriors, but other NBA and international teams.

“I’m very thankful for the opportunity,” Woodside said. “It’s another chance to play in front of a lot of people.”

While thankful, Woodside isn’t going to Vegas to sit on the bench and hopes this year he’ll get his chance to make a mark on scouts.

“Last year’s summer league was frustrating for me,” he said. “Hopefully this year I’ll get a chance. You gotta hope someone watches you and like you to get picked up. I’m going to work my tail off to do it.”

Woodside, who graduated from ALHS in 2005, averaged 14.3 points and 4.9 assists per game for BCM Gravelines. He is also a member of the Albert Lea High School Hall of Fame’s inaugural class.

You can follow Woodside’s progress this summer on “Inside My World” at http://www.benwoodside.blogspot.com