Even though the California Golden Bears were not able to meet their expectations in the 2022/23 season, Lars Thiemann made the next step during his senior season. For the first time in his college career, the German big man was a full-time starter and finished the year averaging 9.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.6 blocks and 0.5 steals in 25.1 minutes in the competitive Pac-12 conference. Following four years in Berkeley, Thiemann chose to enter the transfer portal and will remain in California for his fifth year of eligibility at Loyola Marymount. Prior to his time in the US, Thiemann was a member of the German U20 national team that won bronze at the 2019 European Championships and played in the NBBL and Pro B for the Bayer Giants Leverkusen.
Thank you very much for your time! First and foremost: How are you doing and how have you spent the summer so far?
I’m doing well! I came back to Germany around two months ago and currently am finishing the summer school online in order to receive my Bachelor’s degree from Cal. After that, I will get ready for my final year of college at Loyola Marymount.
You have been able to make the next step and establish yourself as a starter in Berkeley in your senior season. How would you summarize this season both individually and as a team?
Overall, I am satisfied with the individual progress I made during this season, as I got to start the entire season. Outside of parts of my junior year, when my teammate got hurt, this was the first time I was a regular starter. However, I believe that there is still a lot of room for improvement left. I am very confident that I will be able to show a lot more next year, I wasnt always able to present all my skills and my scoring arsenal at Cal. As a team, the season surely did not go the way we all have envisioned, it was tough for all of us.
As you have already mentioned, you will spend your fifth year of college eligibility at Loyola Marymount. What were the main factors that impacted your decision to make this move?
First of all, I believe that the West Coast Conference suits my game really well and I will be in a position to succeed. As well, the coaches have really impressed me, I already have a strong relationship with the head coach Stan Johnson and believe in his mentality and his approach to the game. And of course, staying in LA and enjoying the warm weather does not hurt either.
During the last couple years, the landscape of the NCAA has changed a lot with the emergence of the transfer portal as a result of the new transfer rules. How was your experience of the transfer process?
Yeah, the transfer portal has vastly changed. Due to NIL, colleges are able to use monetary incentives as part of their recruitment. Since their are so many players in the portal at the same time, the process is very busy. I had a lot of calls in a short amount of time and it is not uncommon that a school has already filled a position two days later and suddenly is not an option anymore. It all went very fast, but I still had good options. I took two visits, but very quickly knew that LMU would be the right choice for me.
What are the main improvement areas you are focusing on this summer?
Definitely my shot! I want to show my shooting ability from midrange and from downtown next season, something I unfortunately could not really do at Cal. Moreover I want to be able to score from different spots on the court and become more versatile on defense.
Whenever you are not on the court, what are your favorite activities? I saw that you have an Instagram account solely for cooking content (@lars_creations)!
Yeah I surely like to cook, even though I was a bit lazy recently producing content on the account. Golf is another activity I like to do in between to clear my head. And, since I am in Germany right now, it is a great opportunity to hang out with friends that I sometimes have not seen in years.
Last but not least: where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?
That is a tough question. Hopefully on a high level. I would love to play in the Euroleague at some point, but you never know what happens. I would definitely like to come back to Germany after my last college year and play here professionally.
