Becoming a professional athlete is every little kid’s dream. And while no Seawolves have made it to the NBA at this point, that dream has still become a reality for many of them overseas.
Two players from the 2013-2014 Stony Brook men’s basketball team were able to latch onto new clubs in Europe shortly after graduating in the spring.
After playing at Stony Brook for four years, Dave Coley found a new home on BK Iskra Svit, a team in Slovakia’s top league, Slovak Extraliga.
He made a big impact early on with BK Iskra Svit, which has a 4-3 record in the early going. Coley has played in seven games and leads the team in points per game, averaging 19.0 per contest. He also has average 2.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game so far this season.
In July, Eric McAlister also agreed upon his first professional contract, signing with Denmark’s FOG Naestved, which currently sits in fifth place with a 2-2 record early on in the season. He has played in four games and is averaging seven points and 5.3 rebounds per contest.
Tommy Brenton, who graduated as one of the program’s most highly regarded players back in the spring of 2013, is in his second season playing for Japan’s Link Tochigi Brex. Last year, Brenton put up over 6.0 rebounds per game, 5.5 rebounds per game and 4.0 assists per game. However, he struggled at the line, only making about 53 percent of his free throws.
So far this season, Brenton is off to another strong start, averaging 5.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and a team leading 4.8 assists per contest.
Dallis Joyner, who graduated from Stony Brook back in the spring of 2012, has also had success playing a foreign country after his days as a Seawolf. He spent the 2012-13 season starting for Maccabi Kiryat Bialik, part of the Israeli-National League. There, he averaged 16.2 points per game, nine rebounds per game and 2.6 assists per game, while shooting 63.4 percent from the field.
For the 2013-14 season, Joyner moved to MBK Reiker Komarno, which plays in the Slovakia-Extraliga, where he put up 8.34 rebounds per game, as well as 11.73 points per game. He also had a 52.8 field goal percentage and shot 46.2 percent from three.
This year, Joyner has signed with Tundja Yamboi in the Bulgaria National Basketball League, but has yet to see action with them.
Al Rapier spent two years playing under head coach Steve Pikiell before continuing his basketball career in Portugal. He spent the 2012-13 season playing for Sampaense Basket, where he started 14 games, averaging 17.3 points per game, 7.1 rebounds and two assists. His field goal percentage was just over 53 percent.
This past year, Rapier spent played with Marin Peixegalego in Spain. He appeared in 12 games and tallied 8.3 points and .92 steals per contest. His free throw percentage rose to 70 percent, a stark increase from his previous season’s 59.7 percent mark.
So far this season, Rapier has started one of four games. He is shooting 44 percent from the field and averaging 5.8 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game and .75 steals per game.
One day, Stony Brook may produce an NBA-level talent. But for now, the program can take pride in the fact that so many of its former players have still made their dreams of playing professional basketball come true.
