After not hearing their names called at the 2012 NBA draft, former men's basketball players Jordan Theodore and Herb Pope pursued professional careers overseas and are making an impact on their new teams.
Point guard Theodore signed a contract with Antalya BSB of the Beko Turkish Basketball League on July 18. Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams played in the TBL during the NBA lockout last season, and former all-star Allen Iverson played in the league in 2010-11.
Theodore has made an in instant impact for Antalya BSB (2-6), averaging 14.13 points per game and 3.75 assists per game, according to the TBL website. He has scored in double figures in seven of the team's eight games.
Theodore reached the 20-point mark on Nov. 24 in a 93-89 win against TED Kolejiller
His 14.13 points per game is 18th in the league and his 30 assists on the year in tenth best.
Theodore is shooting 44 percent from inside the arc, but just 25 percent from 3-point range.
Theodore posted career-highs in points and assists in his last season as a Pirate, scoring 16.1 points per game and dishing out 6.6 assists per game. He broke the program's single-season assists record, en route to the second most assists per game average in the Big East.
Teammate Herb Pope signed a contract to play with Bnei Herzliya of Israel in the Ligat HaAl, the top division of basketball Israel on July 23.
Pope is averaging 9.6 points per game this season, while shooting 66 percent from the floor through seven games this season.
The team raves about Pope in his player profile on their website bhbasket.co.il, calling him "a powerful forward/center" with an "aggressive" style of play.
Bnei Herzliya is 2-5 this season.
Pope averaged a double-double last season, scoring 15.1 points per game while grabbing 10.4 rebounds per game. Pope averaged the second most rebounds per game in the Big East, behind West Virgina forward Kevin Jones.
T.J. Brennan can be reached at Thomas.Brennan@student.shu.edu.
