Maccabi Tel Aviv added a significant piece to its roster for the 2011/12 season, signing a Jewish-American star it had coveted for over a year.
By ALLON SINAIJon Scheyer(photo credit: REUTERS)
Maccabi Tel Aviv added a significant piece to its roster for the 2011/12 season on Sunday, signing a Jewish-American star it had coveted for over a year.Jon Scheyer agreed to a two-year contract with the reigning Euroleague runner-up and will help bolster a squad which will be playing on three fronts for most of next season, with Maccabi choosing to also enter the Adriatic League in the coming campaign.“I’m delighted we managed to sign Scheyer,” Maccabi coach David Blatt said. “I already wanted him last summer and I’m very happy that we succeeded in getting him this year.”The 23-year-old guard was one of the best collage players in the US in the 2009/10 season, leading Duke University to the NCAA championship in his senior year, averaging 18.2 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game.However, despite being named as a second-team All-American by ESPN, Scheyer was not selected in the 2010 NBA draft.He went on to play for the Miami Heat during the 2010 Summer League, but he had to undergo surgery to repair damage to his right retina after taking an elbow to his eye during a pre-season game.He tried his luck at the Los Angeles Clippers’ training camp in September, but with his eye not yet fully healed he was waived and in late February he joined the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the D-League team of the Houston Rockets. There, he posting 11.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game in the NBDL playoffs while wearing goggles to protect his eye.“Jon is a very talented, smart and team-orientated player with the ability to rise to the occasion,” Blatt added. “He’s a real winner and has proven that everywhere he has played. He plays with a lot of commitment and that is exactly what we like to see from our players.He will give us another dimension by helping our perimeter shooting together with his big heart. Just as importantly, Jon is a Jew who is coming to Israel and I hope he stays with us for many years.”
