It's something he said he's dreamed about his entire life, but former Bishop Ludden star Jack Rauch has to admit he wasn't expecting that dream to come true — in Uruguay.

"Maybe this isn't exactly where I thought I was going to end up being," Rauch said in a Zoom interview Thursday. "But, it's an awesome opportunity for me to get my feet wet in the professional basketball world."

After finishing up a successful college career at Florida Southern University, Rauch was not expecting his pro career to begin at least until January, when leagues overseas are poised to begin their new seasons, a few months late because of the coronavirus. But last week, while golfing with his dad, Le Moyne legend Len Rauch, Jack got a call from his agent, who happens to be a native of, you guessed it, Uruguay.

"He's like, 'can you leave in a week? I've got a contract for you to go down to Uruguay for the restart of the 2019-20 season,'" said Rauch. "I was beyond thrilled. I was nervous, and I was excited, all at the same time."

Excited, because he was fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a pro basketball player. Even moreso, because he'd be joining a team for the beginning of its postseason run, meaning his pro debut would be in a playoff game.

But Jack was nervous because Montevideo, Uruguay is a long, long way from Syracuse, New York. And the only Spanish he remembers from high school is "Yo hablo Espanol un poco", which means, "I speak a little Spanish."

"Unfortunately, not a lot of people speak English around here," he said. "I guess that's part of growing up. I had to expect it, with my dream to become a professional basketball player."

And the former Gaelic Knight is living out his dream in the same league that employed former Syracuse star Rick Jackson for the last three seasons. His contract is only good for the rest of the current season, the 2019-20 LUB playoffs. But, Rauch said if he performs well enough, he may earn a chance to re-sign with the club in January. And spending January in the Southern Hemisphere would extend his string of missed Syracuse winters to a five in a row.

"Montevideo is right on the coast here, so on my off days, I will definitely be exploring the beaches down here," said Rauch, who's already discovered how good the coffee is in Uruguay, which borders Brazil. "A lot of people travel, and go on vacation, but, I get to do it for free. I can't really complain too much about that."

After quarantining in his hotel for a week, Rauch will hit the floor with his new team to begin preparing for the first game on November 2. The 23-year old is recovering from back surgery in July, but said he expects to come back stronger, like he did after surgeries on his shoulder in college, and on his ankle in high school.

Rauch, who said he wants to be a coach when his playing days are over, may only get three games to prove himself as his Urunday Universitario club enters the best-of-five quarterfinals. Where he goes next, is completely up in the air.

"If I love it here, then I'll stay," he said. "If not, then I'll go to Europe, hopefully, experience the world while I'm young, and on somebody else's dime. As long as my body can take me there, I want to play for as long as I can."