By Joseph Staszewski
Evan Conti’s dream of becoming a professional basketball player is a reality, but even he can’t quite believe it yet.
“I don’t think it will really sink in until I am at the airport,” said the former Holy Cross and Quinnipiac standout.
The 6-foot-3 Conti, who is a also a citizen of Israel, signed with Hapoel Be’er Sheva last week. The club is new to the Israel National League and will start in the second division. Still, Conti sees an opportunity there because he believes the team will be on the fast track to the Israeli Basketball Super League. The top two finishers in the playoffs get promoted. The experience will also be enhanced by the fact the fact that Hapoel Be’er Sheva will play in a brand new arena in a sports-savvy city did not have a basketball team before.
“Their owner is doing whatever he can to be one of the top teams in Israel as soon as possible,” Conti said.
He compares the situation to joining Quinnipiac. Conti was part of teams that completed the rise of the program from one that started as a Division II school to one of the best teams in the MAAC Conference. Conti averaged 9.0 points per game and started in 13 contests during his senior year at Quinnipiac.
That fact that I can come in and help the program get to where they want to go, it’s something that I’ve done before at Quinnipiac,” he said.
There shouldn’t be a big adjustment period for him to being away from home, or to the style of play overseas, because he played in the Maccabi Games on the U.S. junior team in 2009 and on the open squad in 2013.
“It’s a lot more physical than athletic,” Conti said. “In America it’s more of an athletic game than a physical game. That’s going to help me a lot because I am not the most athletic, but I feel like I am a tough player who isn’t afraid of anything.”
He will leave for Israel in two weeks to begin the next chapter of his basketball career. Conti still can’t quite believe it is happening and how quickly he feels like he has gotten to this point. He can remember dreaming of being a pro in high school and committing to that pursuit in college.
“Now it’s here just like that,” Conti said. “It feels like it went by way too quick.”
