Orthodox basketball star Ryan Turell selected in NBA’s minor league draft
Yeshiva University star Ryan Turell is expected to be drafted on Saturday by the Detroit Pistons’ minor league affiliate. Courtesy of Yeshiva University
(JTA) — Former Yeshiva University basketball star Ryan Turell took a major step on Saturday toward realizing his dream of becoming the first Orthodox Jew to play in the NBA.
Turell was drafted 27th overall by the Motor City Cruise, the Detroit Pistons’ affiliate in the G League, which is the NBA’s minor league organization. After going undrafted during June’s NBA draft, Turell is now officially part of a NBA franchise and has drawn closer to the highest echelon of professional basketball.
While playing in the G League does not guarantee a spot in the NBA, it means Turell could be called up to replace an injured or underachieving player. He could also earn an opportunity to play off the bench later in the season.
Turell’s chances of ascending directly from the NCAA’s Division III to the NBA had always been viewed as a long shot, but his efforts were further hampered by injury. Turell had been set to appear at the G League’s combine in May, a scouting showcase for prospects who were not invited to the main NBA Draft event, but he sustained an injury during a workout that forced him to drop out. The injury also kept him out of the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas.
Now, the 6-foot-7 guard, who was the DIII player of the year and helped lead Y.U. to a historic 50-game winning streak, will begin his professional career when the G League tips off Nov. 4.
Turell, an observant Jew, said he plans to play on Shabbat, as long as he can walk from his hotel to the game.
Jewish players have been a rare sight in the NBA since the 1970s. Israeli forward Deni Avdija plays for the Washington Wizards, and former pro Omri Casspi spent years in the league as well. Dolph Schayes was a Jewish standout player in the early days of the modern NBA.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
