Now a little over a year after graduating from Sacred Heart University, Merrimack’s Corey Hassan figured his dream of playing professional basketball wasn’t going to be a reality. He began looking for a full-time job.

Then a call from a former college teammate alerted him of a possibility of playing professionally in Germany. Things moved quickly and Hassan signed with a team in Augsburg over the weekend. He’ll move to Germany in August and expects to be there until next spring.

The Augsburg team was looking for a wing player who could both shoot and rebound. They might have found a great match in Hassan.

During his senior year the 6-foot-5 Hassan, who was among the national leaders in 3-point field goals, averaged 19.2 points per game and 7.6 rebounds – fifth best in the Northeast Conference.

“I like to be known as a hustle and bustle guy,” Hassan said, “and the rebounding was a big part of that.”

He was a three-time Northeast Conference Player of the Week during his senior year and his 1,472 career points included his freshman year at Boston University.

Hassan said he was hoping to play professionally after graduating, but circumstances – including a couple of agents who didn’t work out and a personal situation at home – kept him in the area.

“I kept playing basketball, I can’t not play basketball,” Hassan said. “But it really looked like my time had passed.”

It was former teammate Joey Henley, a 2009 Sacred Heart graduate who averaged 20.9 points per game last season in Germany, who encouraged Hassan to come over.

There are five professional leagues in Germany and Hassan will start in ProA, the second highest division.

“I’m fortunate to start in ProA,” Hassan said. “It’s a good league and there is the possibility of moving up to the top league, which has a lot of former NBA players.”

Hassan met with a strength coach on Wednesday and will begin workouts to get ready for his shot at professional basketball. He said it was his work in the weight room that made him into such a good rebounder during his senior year at Sacred Heart.

“If it works out I can see myself playing over there for a few years,” Hassan said. “From what I hear basketball is very popular in Germany.”

And it should get more popular if the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki advance to the NBA Finals.

“I’ve always said, if I was going to start a team, I’d start it with Nowitzki,” Hassan said.

Sounds like he’s already trying to get in good with German fans.