Austin Hollins is gone from Minnesota now, leaving a leadership vacancy on a team that otherwise has a lot of talent. I'm sure coach Richard Pitino would love to have Hollins' professional work ethic and consistent demeanor around the team these days.

But the graduated guard hasn't severed those collegiate ties. Even from France, as Hollins pursues a professional career overseas, he keeps up with the team and occasionally does a little friendly trash talking on Twitter -- picking the 'Gold' squad over his 'Maroon' alma mater squad in Minnesota's intrasquad scrimmage on Oct. 26.

Meanwhile, he's building an exciting new life in an entirely new situation in Europe, where he's playing for Denain Voltaire in France's Pro B League. I caught up with him over Skype last week to talk about what his post-Minnesota life has been like so far:


You signed a contract in France this summer and have been over there for a few months now. How's the transition going?
Well you know it's definitely been a transition. You have the the language barrier and just the way of life is different so it's definitely been a transition but the more time I spend over here that easier gets. You also have to deal with you know a new team teammates new coach, getting used to the style of play getting used to what my coach wants from me has been a challenge but I'm starting to get the hang of it.

What kind of style does your new team play?
We have a lot of motion and a lot of pick and rolls we really like to use the pick and roll and we move the ball really well I think the team as a whole really plays well together and I like playing for this team.

Denain is a town, yes? What's it like there?
Yes it is. It's a small town in Northern France close to Belgium. It's a very small town but the people are very friendly.

Where are you living?
The town I live in (Valenciennes) is is really nice it's not a huge town but it's a little bit bigger than the one we play in and it's about 15 minutes away so I commute back-and-forth for practice and games but is not a bad commute at all I just hop on the highway.

Have you experienced any anti-American sentiments in your time there so far?
No fortunately I have not. I'm usually in my apartment though if I'm not at the grocery store or doing something for basketball.

Are there other Americans on team?
There are two other Americans on the team and they both been in Europe for quite some time. They are in their early 30s.

What kind of advice have they given you?
I have been very helpful to me you know one of them has been in France for seven years and he speaks fluent French so when I first got here he really helped me out and the other one I stayed at his place for a few days until my apartment was ready. They both give me advice though that helps me get through because they've been through it.

Have you learned any French yet?
I know very little French I know how to say hello and goodbye and good evening and how are you and I can understand very little but for the most part I can't understand it when people are talking to me.

It is! I took four years of French in high school if you need any pointers (just kidding, it's almost all gone now.) Do your coaches speak English?
You shouldn't have said that either, I'm going to be looking to you for some pointers now -- but all my coaches do speak English. I have two coaches.

So, do your coaches say things in both French and English?
Really only one of the coaches does all the talking during practice, but he speaks fluent English, so he'll say things in English and in French. Practice is usually a mixture of both. If he's talking to one of the French guys, he'll probably just instruct him in French, but if he's talking to the team as a whole, a lot of times he'll use English because all the guys on the team understand English. They don't all speak great English, but they all do speak a little.

Do you communicate with non-English teammates pretty well?
Yeah, I can communicate with them.

Ever have trouble when you're out, not knowing the language?
It is definitely difficult from time to time. There have been a few occasions where I've gone to the grocery store and I've struggled because I couldn't speak French. Most of the time, I don't need to speak. I go in, I say 'Hello' in French. They scan my items and I look at how much it costs and I pay and I say bye and I leave.

How's your accent?
(laughs) It's alright. I'm sure they can recognize I'm foreign.

What are the biggest differences in the program from what you're used to in high-major college basketball?
There are so many. It's not the same as college basketball, and especially in Europe, things are done a lot differently. It takes some getting used to. When I first got over here, it was really tough. I didn't have any internet, I didn't have an apartment, so I was staying with my teammate. I had to get a fresh bank account, a phone plan. There are a lot of things that go into being over here. And as far as basketball, it's just not the same. You have a whole new style of play, you have new coaches and on top of all that with the new teammates and everything, you have a language barrier. So trying to get past all that is tough. But you don't realize how much you don't need to speak to anybody to get by until you're actually living here.

Totally. Do you find you use your hands more now too?
Yeah, definitely.

How much does the team practice?
We usually go twice a day every day. In preseason, we went every day, twice a day. Now-- we usually play once a week, which is rough. Probably two or three days we'll go twice and then the day before the game we'll go once and we'll have shootaround in the morning of the game.

How many games have you played so far?
Regular season games, we've played three and we're 2-1. And then there are these Cup games that they have over here that are played in between the regular-season games throughout the season. French Cup, Leaders Cup. I'm not exactly how it works, but I know you play a certain amount of games and you have to win to qualify to keep playing. We haven't lost a cup game yet, I think we've played three or four. Pro A League, Pro B League, National 1, National 2, National 3 -- French Cup is all the teams in France in all the leagues.

Were you able to get over there in time to get settled and travel before everything got crazy?
No. I got here. I didn't practice the day I got here -- I took care of some things -- and then it was right on it. I have had a little time to go some places.

How have you traveled for basketball?
We bus everywhere. It's definitely a change. I think the last trip we had was actually ten hours, a 15-hour bus ride. We only fly to four places throughout the year, so we haven't flown anywhere yet. That's definitely an experience, riding the bus. We have seats that let out into beds so we can sleep.

How do you pass the time on those long bus rides?
I put movies on my iPad. Listen to music. Read a little. Sleep, mostly.

What about for fun -- where have you traveled?
Brussels -- and that is an awesome city -- and I went to Paris, which is also an amazing city. I just went to visit. Me and one of my American teammates. Usually if we have some time off, we'll try to travel somewhere. We went to Paris, we actually went to the Jay-Z and Beyonce concert that was in Paris. That was a lot of fun. We got to see the Eiffel Tower and we did it in a short period of time. We got there around 1:00 in the afternoon, went and saw the sights, came back to the hotel, showered, went to the concert and then came back the next morning. We took the train. It's about an hour and 45 [minutes].

What did you like about Brussels?
Its just unique. It's just a really nice city.

Had you been to Europe before?
No, this is my first time to Europe, ever. And it just happens to be that I'm living here.

What miss most about your American basketball experience?
I think the thing I miss most is just the college basketball experience. You really don't realize what it's like until you're watching it from the outside and you've been there. It's one thing watching it in high school because you've never been in that environment. But after playing and then looking back on it, there is nothing that is going to be like the college basketball environment. It's a lot of fun playing over here and I enjoy it, but it's definitely not like playing in the Barn or any of those other venues that we got to play in throughout my college career.

How many fans show up to your games now?
Well, our gym only holds about 2,000 people at a time. So it's usually pretty full. It gets loud. Some of the fans have their little section, they'll have the drums out, they've got the noisemakers in there. It's just like a bass drum and they're just banging it all game.

So a tiny little arena then. Are the other arenas small like that?
No, they're not all like that. There are a couple of teams that we've traveled to that we've played so far that -- the biggest arena that we've played in so far was probably like a 5 or 6,000-seater.

What's your role on your new team?
It's a lot like my role in Minnesota, kind of. The way we play, everyone gets playing time. We have a lot of talented guys on the team and we're really a young team, so we rotate in and out to wear the other team down. But the way our offense works, when you're open our coach wants us to shoot it. He wants you to execute. He doesn't mind when you make mistakes, but he does mind when you make mental mistakes. When you're out there and you're not focused, that's when he really gets angry. But when you're out there trying to make a basketball play, it doesn't really bother him too much. He really lets us play. He's just a stickler for the little things. So I'm used to that playing for coach [Tubby] Smith and coach [Richard] Pitino.

What positions are you playing?
I play shooting guard and small forward, they're pretty interchangeable.

What's your best game so far?
The first game we played, I think I had ten points, but there was a preseason game that in the second half, things really started going my way. Shots were falling. I hit a half-court shot to end the third quarter. I had about 20 points, maybe. So that was a lot of fun. It was just preseason though, so it didn't count. Actually, right now, I'm out for like six weeks.

Oh no, what happened?
I fractured my pinky toe. It's really weird because I practiced the day before it started hurting. It wasn't hurting when I practiced. And then I woke up the next morning and I could barely walk. I went to shootaround, and then I did play that night. Then the next day I went to the doctor and it was fractured.

Aw man. Can you even do anything for it?
I have this little shoe that I wear, but there's not really much I can do for it, just ice it and stay off it as much as possible.

When did you hurt it?
It was a few days ago, actually, this past week [two weeks ago now].

Have you been keeping up with old teammates pretty well?
Bigtime. I think Mo and Joey were a little hurt when I chose the Gold squad. The last scrimmage they had I said Maroon squad because I played on the Maroon squad. So when I said Gold squad, Joey was like 'Man, you're a Maroon squad alumni. [Maroon won, 59-58.] 'I've talked to a lot of the guys since I've been over here. I probably talk to Andre the most.

Have you talked to [former Gopher] Trevor [Mbakwe] at all about his experience playing overseas?
Yeah, I did. I've talked to Trevor since I've been over here actually. We chat it up every now and then. He tells me how it's going and what it's been like for him. And I also, before I left, I had the chance to talk to [former Gopher] Dan Coleman because he actually played in France. So I talked to him and he gave me some advice on a few things I needed to bring with me.

What did he tell you?
He told me a few things about how it was different. When you're going grocery shopping, he told me when you're in the fresh food section to get fruit or vegetables, you have to bag them and then weigh them right when you get them, print out a little sticker of price based on the weight.

What about -- what's the best thing you've eaten?
Oh my goodness. So we had a team dinner and we went to this restaurant. There was nothing as far as the [dinner] that really stood out to me, but we had this dessert. It was like a sweet belgian waffle, like a dessert waffle with vanilla bean ice cream on it, and it might have been the best thing I ever had.

What's your contract like with this team? Are you guaranteed a year or does it not work that way?
I think everyone is a little different. For me, there was a 21-day period at the beginning of my contract when I first got here where they were allowed to cut me without paying me. So it was kind of like a tryout period.

That's a little scary, to move overseas and not have a guarantee. Were you staying with a teammate during that time?
Not the whole time. I had my apartment and everything. Yeah, it was a little scary. But I made it past that, and I think now everything is guaranteed but they're allowed to cut me up until Christmas time, but if they cut me, they money is still guaranteed.

Are you coming back to the states at all for Christmas?
Are you going to come home around New Years. I'm not sure if I'll be in New York or Memphis. I'm trying to talk to my mom about it. She doesn't know if she's going to be up there or not. Me and my brother-in-law might go to New York for New Year's, but I'm not sure if my dad will be there [with the Brooklyn Nets]. If that's the case, I might go to Memphis.

But not back to Minnesota?
Not around that time, probably. I won't have time to do that. I'll probably come back to Minnesota, hopefully after the season is over. If you don't make the playoffs, the season ends in May. If you make the playoffs, we're talking mid-June.