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Preston Knowles: “Tortona is a great organisation. I will give my all for this team."

Preston Knowles: “Tortona is a great organisation. I will give my all for this team."

Among the last players, in chronological order, to arrive in Tortona in the summer, Preston Knowles he is the American guard chosen by the Bertram Derthona for the 2018/19 season. The player, already seen in Italy in the 2015/16 season with the Pistoia shirt, spoke about his first positive impressions on his choice: ˝I decided to come to Tortona because I love Italy and this is a great opportunity to show off and be myself. The organization is very professional, one of the most professional I have ever played for, while the team is very talented and full of versatile players who make my job easier. The city is nice and small, everyone knows each other˝.

From the first days of preparation, Preston has emerged as a vocal leader, a player who likes to joke around off the pitch and give advice to his teammates on the court. It is Knowles himself who says that this leadership was born from him ˝during my senior year in college: we were a very young team and I encouraged my teammates with my voice. I have always been used to communicating on the pitch in every team where I have played from 2011 to today, but I think that this year, with so many veteran players, I will be able to talk less. However, I am ready to do whatever the coach asks of me˝.

The player arrived in Tortona with very clear ideas about the objectives, on a personal and team level, that he wants to achieve this season. The increased number of promotions is a further stimulus ˝to give my all for this club to try to finish the championship in first position in April and be promoted to Serie A˝.

In the year spent in Pistoia, the guard learned to appreciate Italy, a place ˝where it's nice to live. I love the food and the climate, I like the culture and the Italian people are among the best in Europe. And then the European style is starting to circulate in America too, so it's not that different˝.

Father of two children aged eight and six, Knowles admits that their presence in his life has changed him, allowing him to always remain He is focused and down to earth. My children take stress and pressure off me, they help me maintain discipline because I have to be an example for them: every time I take to the pitch I do it not only for myself but also for them˝. The relationship with his children also occupies a good part of Preston's free time, because ˝I like talking to them, even via Skype. In my free time I love reading, watching films and relaxing˝.

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