Former Men's Hoop Players Finding Success Overseas

9/19/2022 12:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Seven former UNC men's basketball players are currently playing overseas

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Playing professional basketball is the goal of so many boys when they grow up, the reality is not met for many, but head coach Steve Smiley and the Northern Colorado men's basketball program have turned into a factory for men to turn pro and play overseas. Seven former Bears are now playing professionally in Europe, all of whom Smiley coached at some point.

The seven players are Jordan Daivs, Kai Edwards, Bodie Hume, Dru Kuxhausen, Jonah Radebaugh, Andre Spight and Ibrahim Sylla.

"The dream and immediate short-term goal of most players that play in our program at UNC are to keep their career going after they finish, and to be able to play in the professional ranks. To have so many of our former players realizing that dream and not just playing professionally, but really thriving in some of the best leagues in the world, is a really gratifying feeling for our entire staff and program," Smiley said of the former Bears success. "We ask the kids in our program to really sacrifice, really put in time during their career with us, and really give up themselves for the greater good of our team, but when their time is over to see them make the pros is awesome. It's also a testament to the program all the way back to what Coach Linder built and from what we are continually building every day to be successful and win. Professional teams value players that have played in winning programs at the collegiate level, and I think that is a big piece right now of why we have so many players that are in the pros. We are extremely proud of each and every one of those players that have realized their dream of becoming a pro."

Jordan Davis
The all-time leading scorer in program history has worked his way onto the UCAM Murcia team in Murcia, Spain that competes in Liga ACB. Davis has now been overseas for four seasons after originally signing with the Denver Nuggets for the 2019 Summer League.

Davis has also competed for Azerbaijani in the European Small Countries Championships. He helped Azerbaijani to a fourth-place finish. Davis was the team's leading scorer averaging 19.0 points per game, the fifth most for the tournament.

Kai Edwards
Kai Edwards has been busy not only playing for Club Melilla Baloncesto in Spain, but also representing his home country of the Netherlands. In doing so he went head-to-head with NBA players including Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier.

"After coming back from my trip to the US and being back at UNC for about 10 days. I was invited to join the training camp and play with the Netherlands national team for three international games. The first two were a tournament in Slovenia, where I played against Slovenia first and the second match against Montenegro. It was a really cool experience to see Jonah (Radebaugh) and play against him after having been teammates at UNC for four years," Edwards said. "The third game was in France, playing in a sold out stadium against France which had Rudy Gobert starting for them and Evan Fournier and many great players, which was an amazing experience. It was my first time being able to compete with my national team and hopefully many more times in the future. I will head back to Melilla, in Spain to start the pre-season and get ready for my third season in Spain. It was a great summer!"

Bodie Hume
UNC's all-time leader in made threes and the former Big Sky Freshman of the Year recently signed with Boras Basket in Sweden. His first professional season begins at the end of September.

Dru Kuxhausen
The three-point shooting extraordinaire recently signed with BC Olimpi Tbilisi in Georgia. Like Hume, his season begins at the end of September.

Jonah Radebaugh
The mullet has made its presence known in Europe as Jonah Radebaugh and his signature hair has earned him a spot in the top league in Europe. Radebaugh recently signed with Valencia Basket which competes in the EuroLeague. Radebaugh is the first-ever Bear to compete in the EuroLeague.

Along with joining Valencia Basket, Radebaugh played with the Montenegro National Team in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. In doing so he went up against former teammate Kai Edwards and the Netherlands National Team.

"I spent most of my summer playing with the Montenegro National Team for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers. I got a passport from the Montenegro Basketball Federation, so I am officially a citizen out there. I contributed to a big win over a highly ranked France team and a win over Portugal as well," Radebaugh said of his busy summer. "Now I am with my new team in Valencia, Spain for the beginning of preseason. We've had a few practices so far and I'm starting to get comfortable playing with my new teammates and coaches. I've had a lot of new teammates this summer, met a lot of great guys, and I'm ready to get it going again!"

Andre Spight
Andre Spight helped lead the Armenian National Team to the FIBA European Championships for Small Countries this summer in Malta. Spight averaged 22.0 points per game, the fourth most in the tournament. In the finals, he scored 22 points after dishing out eight assists in the semifinals.

Spight is currently weighing his options of where to play this fall.

Ibrahim Sylla
Former UNC big man Ibrahim Sylla has been enjoying a post college career most recently playing for Silute in Lithuania. This summer he also played with the Ram Up, the CSU The Basketball Tournament team.

Along with the seven current Bears playing professional basketball, Alan Walls a former assistant coach (2002-04) also is finding success in coaching overseas. He coached the Malta National Team in the same tournament Davis and Spight played in.

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