American striker Ryan Luther has moved from the Latvian team “Ventspils” to Istanbul “Darussafaka”, informs the strong Turkish basketball club.
For 24-year-old Luther, last season was the first in his professional career.
In the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, the American scored an average of 10.6 points in 26 games, won 7.3 rebounds and made 1.3 assists. In the FIBA European Cup, he averaged 12.1 points in 14 dues, 8.9 balls under the baskets and 1.9 assists. He also participated in both FIBA Champions League qualifiers.
Prior to his last season in college basketball, Luther was a full-time player on the University of Arizona team and played 32 games, averaging nine points in a match and five rebounds.
“Darussafaka” plans to play in the FIBA Champions League next season. This season, Istanbul basketball players stopped in the ULEB Eurocup Top 16, but were sixth in the Turkish Championship at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, one of the leaders of last season’s Ogre, James Beatemons, will continue his career in the bottom-up team of the second league in France after the strength of the Clermont-Ferrand “Metropole”.
23-year-old Beitemons also made his debut in professional basketball last season. The American defender scored an average of 17.6 points in 24 Latvian-Estonian Basketball League games, won 3.9 rebounds and made 3.4 assists.
In college basketball, Beatemons spent the final two years at Loyola Marymount University, scoring an average of 16 points in 34 matches in the last season before heading to Europe, winning three rebounds and returning three-and-a-half assists.
