At first thought, I was skeptical to interview somebody who contacted me to set something up. After all, if they need to advertise themselves, they wouldn’t be a good choice, right?

However, when Bruno Baltazar sent me an offer, I definitely had to look into it. Baltazar definitely has a unique resume. He’s only 18 years old, which most certainly makes him one of the youngest in the sports management business.

While I was at first doubtful about his resume, there’s evidence of his work. Baltazar writes for the Portugal EuroBasket site and a Portuguese basketball site, BasketMe.com.

This interview is split into three parts. Part 2 on Tuesday, Part 3 on Wednesday. Today Bruno and I discuss some of his own personal background, as well as players, coaches, and teams he as worked with. Parts 2 and 3 cover the lifestyle of scouting, his philosophies on scouting and coaching, as well some international players you’ll be hearing about in the future.

DB: Okay, Bruno, tell me a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What are some interesting things about you?

Bruno Baltazar: I’m from Portugal, a little country in Europe where not many people follow basketball. Not many people know exactly where this country is, even though the national team achieved the 9^th place in the last European in Spain (they beat Andris Biedrins‘ Latvian team and Israel, got eliminated against Greece).

I’m just 18 years old of age, being the youngest scout, coach and team director in the world right now. At the personal level, I’m married to a American lady named Lia — so you might say I do everything at a young age. I lived in Africa (Mozambique), USA (Philadelphia), England, France and Spain. I speak English, Spanish, Portuguese and French — a thing I consider important in a global sport. I also represented as a agent Mike Smith in Mexico, and I’m director of two football teams in Portugal due my experience in organization, write as a reporter for international sports web sites.

DB: Tell me about your experience. What are your primary responsibilities? Who do you work with now, and who have you worked with in the past?

Bruno Baltazar: My primary responsibilities right now goes from scouting players at a world level. Not only NCAA, but underrated players from Africa as I maintain a great relationship with Angola national head coach Alberto Carvalho. He is also the Petro Atletico de Luanda coach. We started earlier in the season a project to naturalize an American player of great quality to compete in the Pekin Summer Olympics for Angola. This process involves the country’s national president.

We had Ronald Dupree on the main list, but he decided in the last hour to stay in USA and compete in the D-League. This was right after he got waived by the Detroit Pistons as I also have a good relationship with Pistons scout Tony Ronzone.

I also scout in others countries in Africa such as Nigeria, along with FIBA AFRICA reporter Olusegun Ikuesan. He and I have already placed some young players in Germany, Lituania, Portugal and Spain.

Cape Verde as well. In 2001, we were scouting in Cape Verde and found Joao “Betinho” Gomes, a Portuguese national team star. This past season, he was in ESPN and other mock drafts around the Internet. Several scouts came to watch Gomes in Barreirense (Portugal). Ronzone, Fran Fraschilla (ESPN broadcaster , NBA draft specialist and former NCAA coach), Pete Philo (Minnesota Timberwolves scout and REEBOK Treviso summer camp), as well as others. Unfortuntaely, he didn’t get drafted, now competes in LEB ORO (equivalent to the Spanish 2^nd division), but he will be in the NBA summer league and hopefully he can prove why he deserves to be in the NBA this next season.

Africa has many talents, but the lack of development of their structures and lack of media doesn’t help much. Money is a big thing — it’s hard to find teams interested in donating equipment or basketballs, but they are sure interested in grabbing the young talent out of there.

Others countries I scout are all around Europe, from the bottom to the top team (let’s not forget how Dirk Nowitzki got in the NBA). The Australian league is interesting as well, it’s kind of a little NBA because they run and score a lot.

The minor American leagues are good to follow as, more and more, you find little diamonds out there such as Jamario Moon in CBA. In the ABA, I’m in charge to introduce this league to players in Europe. This past season I scouted for Texas Tycoons, the ABA finalist.

South America, with Mexico at the top, represents a interesting champ as well. Just look at this, I scouted many players for Mexican championship (both 1^st and 2^nd division teams). For example, all the players for Halcones Cordoba that finished in the 3^rd place. I have scouted them all. Demetric Shaw recently broke the FIBA record for most points in a game with 74 down there. Mike Smith, a former NBA player, was there also. We see lots of talent in every and each country, if we sleep on a country we might lose a great player.

China is a big market — now that Yao Ming is in the NBA, they love the sport. The Middle East, such as Lebanon, is trying to improve a lot by paying former NBA players to teach their players the game.

I worked for Eisbaeren Bremerhaven as a scout this past season.

Right now I work for Barreirense (Portuguese league), and have worked there ever since I remember. It was the first team to ever want me since day one. With or without money, I will always help them. Something you have to know is in basketball, all you need is to know one person. After you know one, this one will introduce you to another person, and this creates a chain of connections where soon or later you find what you are looking for.

The MVP of the regular season and the Portuguese all-star game is our center Darrell Harris. He was injured, but we had to replace our injured Shaw Hopes. Our coach was afraid Harris was out of shape. I told him “Sign him and he will be the MVP,” and that’s exactly what happened.

Pierrel Capo D’Orlando. This team is been exciting to work for. I mean, the director of scouting is the son of the president. He is most likely the second-youngest scout in the world (almost 20 years old). We understand each other — the chemistry of work between him and me is like brothers, and when you have a great relationship, results shows up.

Two seasons ago, this team was in 2^nd division in Italy. Now we are in fifth place when nobody expected it. Judson Wallace is the Italy MVP so far, though nobody even knew of him before the season started. We have Gianmarco Pozzecco, one of the best European players ever, in my opinion. Plus, in my view, the Italian champs are the top champs, after the NBA and ACB.

I’m also their only scout for African basketball, responsible for running camps in countries such as Burkina Faso. The team I scout for is the champ of the past seven years, AS Sonabel. I mostly follow men’s sports, but I scout for both of Great Britain teams as they prepare for the Olympics in England in 2012.

I had the chance to be the head coach of Barreirense in the Portuguese summer league (we lost in the final). and I’ve also assisted with the NBA Without Borders program. (I got picked for the role because I speak fluent French). That was maybe my biggest achievement at the personal level, besides the trophies.

DB: What do you consider your biggest success so far?

Bruno: My biggest success so far, aside from the trophies or awards, is to see the happy faces of players when they play. The passion for the game, meeting great people, seeing others who believe in my work. Kids approach me and thank me because I gave them a opportunity to play. In Africa, poor kids can forget about the bad life conditions while playing basketball. That’s the real success because, at the end, we win and lose — but when this game started, it was all about fun .

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That’s all for today, but make sure you check back for parts 2 and 3. The best is yet to come! Tomorrow we discuss the importance of foreign scouting and the skills necessary to be a successful scout and coach.