Manny Harris to Ukraine

Submitted by Raoul on

BallinMichigan.com reports that Manny Harris is headed to Ukraine to play pro ball for Azovmash Mariupol.

Other former Wolverines recently signing deals overseas include:

WolvinLA2

September 13th, 2012 at 2:01 PM ^

Man, I heard Ukraine is a total shithole country. My brother in law was there over the summer for the Euro Cup (or whatever that tournament is called) and although he stayed in Poland, he had to go to The Ukraine a handful of times and he said it was just awful. He couldn't sell any tickets for the games in the Ukraine because no Europeans want to go there.

Bronco648

September 13th, 2012 at 2:04 PM ^

My grandparents were from Madeira!

That said, don't you mean Carmen Reynolds? I understand that's one scary-a$$ airport to fly in to and out of. The Azores are a long way from Hilliard, OH. Good luck Carmen!

bluebrains98

September 13th, 2012 at 2:10 PM ^

I love Manny and wish him all the best, and I'm guessing he has weighed this quesiton already. But, wouldn't he be better off in the NBADL working his way back to The League? I can't imagine salaries are that alluring in the Ukranian league, and I'd think his workouts, coaching, competition, connections, etc. would flourish much more by staying in the U.S., especially for a player who has already shown, albeit in brief flashes, that he can compete in the NBA.

bacon1431

September 13th, 2012 at 3:00 PM ^

I don't know if that's correct. I just browsed one team's roster and Drew Neitzel and Alando Tucker were on it.

But I just looked on wikipedia and the roster requirements are weird. An NBA team can allocate two of their players to a DLeague team. These players must be in their first or second year. The rest of the roster seems to be up for grabs though.

SanDiegoWolverine

September 13th, 2012 at 5:10 PM ^

Anyone any age can play in the NBADL. The NBA relegation thing is another matter separate from the normal rosters.

Players make 20K-50K a year in the D-league so why not go to Ukraine and get (I'm guessing) 100K tax free plus a free car to drive and house to live in? His agent might have advised him to make some cash in Europe for a years and tear it up there and hope an NBA team picks him up.

Seems reasonable.

StephenRKass

September 13th, 2012 at 3:04 PM ^

So, Darius Morris is with the Lakers, and Juwan Howard is with the Miami Heat. To the best of my knowledge, those are the only Michigan guys currently on an NBA roster. Is that correct? I look forward to soon seeing many more Michigan men again playing in the NBA. EDIT:  I want all our players to stay at Michigan until they are a guaranteed first round pick, and not to leave too early, like Manny et al.

Tater

September 13th, 2012 at 6:22 PM ^

The players who left early and are no longer in the league should do PSA's for the team.  

They should say something along the lines of, "If you aren't projected a solid 15th pick or better, stay in school another year."

I use "15th" as an example, because I haven't heard of anyone projected that high falling into the second round.  Besides, players really need to be picked that high so that a team has enough of an investment in them that the team does everything they can to help the player develop.

When you are picked late in the first or anywhere in the second, you are pretty much "meat."