Aug. 27, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's basketball program has sent many of its top players into the professional ranks overseas in recent years, and now G.W. Boon `11 and Bryan Cohen '12 can be added to the list. Boon will make his pro debut for BC Prievidza in Slovakia next season, while Cohen, the three-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, has signed a two-year contract with Maccabi Bazan Haifa in Israel's Super League.
"I am very excited for both Bryan and G.W.," said Bucknell head coach Dave Paulsen. "These are both great professional opportunities, and it really speaks to the respect that Bucknell basketball has earned internationally. Going back several decades now, Bucknell players have reputations of being great team players who compete hard at both ends of the floor."
Cohen was a four-year starting guard who helped lead the Bison to back-to-back 25 win seasons and Patriot League titles, including an NCAA appearance in 2011 and an NIT appearance in 2012. He was the Patriot League Defensive Player of Year in 2010, 2011 and 2012, making him the only player in league history to win the same major award three times and just the seventh in any Division I conference to win a defensive MVP honor three times.
The Huntingdon Valley, Pa., native earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors as a senior. He broke the school record with 130 career games played and never missed a game in four years while averaging just under 30 minutes per contest. He scored 1,102 career points to rank 25th on Bucknell's all-time scoring list, while his 313 career assists rank eighth in program history. Just before graduating last May with a degree in economics, Cohen earned the Bradley N. Tufts Award, presented to a Bucknell senior student-athlete in recognition of exceptional athletic achievement and contribution to Bucknell athletics.
Cohen has some familiarity with basketball in Israel, having competed there twice in the Maccabiah Games. In the summer of 2009, he played for coach Bruce Pearl on the United States team that won the gold medal. Cohen scored in double figures in 4 of 6 games at that tournament, with a high of 18 points against Russia.
"I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity," said Cohen, who departs for Israel on Tuesday in preparation for training camp starting on Sept. 3. "Not many get a chance to play basketball at the next level, and I am very thankful to everyone who helped get me there. Bucknell prepared me very well both on and off the court, and I can't wait to join a great organization. Being Jewish, I am very excited for the opportunity to compete and live in Israel. It is a great honor for my family and me."
"Playing in Israel is a natural fit for Bryan, and this is something he has been eyeing for quite some time," said Paulsen. "He has been there a couple of times with the U.S. Maccabiah teams, and he should fit in very well there. Bryan is the best defensive player that I have ever coached, and he was justly rewarded for that with some prestigious honors. Sometimes lost in that is the fact that he is also a very talented offensive player who will be able to score the basketball at the next level."
Cohen joins a Maccabi Bazan Haifa roster that features Jewish-American head coach Brad Greenberg on the sideline, along with former NBA swingman Donta Smith, former NBA center James Thomas, former Saint Joseph's star Pat Calathes, point guard Paul Stoll, Israeli team captain Ido Kozikaro, Israeli power forward Anton Shoutvin, Israeli center Alex Chubrevich, Israeli point guard Lior Segev, and Israeli forward Sean Labanowski. The team will travel to the United States to play preseason exhibition games against the NBA's Golden State Warriors on October 11 and the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 16.
"Bryan Cohen is a solid all around player who is a focused defender and a strong ballhandler and passer," said Greenberg. "He is a physically and mentally tough player who does a lot of little things on the court that don't always show up in a box score, but help you win."
For Boon, his signing with BC Prievidza in western Slovakia culminates a long year of recovery following a torn Achilles tendon suffered not long after graduating from Bucknell in 2011. BC Prievidza is the reigning champion of the Slovakian Extraliga (top division). Boon will have an American teammate in former Seton Hall guard Paul Gause, and the team's coach, Jamie Andrisevic, is also American.
At Bucknell, Boon was a vital and often underrated performer. The lefthander was a weapon on the perimeter and was also asked to play inside as a power forward despite standing just 6'4". Boon averaged 8.7 points and 3.8 rebounds while knocking down 41 3-pointers as the team's "sixth man" as a senior in 2010-11. He played in all 126 games during his four-year career, one shy of the program record at the time. His 160 career 3-point field goals are eighth-most in program history, and he also ranks in the top-20 all-time in 3-point accuracy. As a senior, he co-captained the Bison to Patriot League regular-season and tournament titles and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
"Coming back from my torn Achilles injury last summer to playing professional ball this year is nothing short of a miracle," said Boon, who majored in biomedical engineering at Bucknell. "I'm so blessed and excited to have this opportunity."
"I am extremely proud of G.W., and excited that he is going to have a chance to continue his playing career," said Paulsen. "He was poised to sign a pro contract last year when he suffered the injury, and it has been a long road back for him. He was a Eurobasket Summer League All-Star, and now he is being rewarded for his ability and his perseverance. He is a tremendous team guy and a great leader."
Boon and Cohen join a list of more than a dozen Bucknell alums who have gone on to play professional basketball in the last 15 years alone. The most prominent of those was J.R. Holden '98, who just retired last year after a terrific career as the point guard for European powerhouse CSKA Moscow. Holden also started for the Russian National Team, with which he competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing after a stunning victory over Spain in the 2007 European Championship. Holden's buzzer-beater gave the Russians the Euro title.
Charles Lee '06, one of the catalysts on Bucknell's 2005 and 2006 Patriot League championship teams, played in two NBA Summer League sessions with the San Antonio Spurs, and he was one of the team's final cuts in veterans training camp in 2006. Lee, who is now in his first year as an assistant coach at Bucknell, went on to play in the German Bundesliga, as well as in Israel and Belgium.
Chris McNaughton '07, another of the stars on those '05 and '06 teams that both won NCAA Tournament first-round games, also plays in Germany's top division after starting his international career in Spain. A German native, McNaughton played for his country's national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey.
Other recent Bison players who have gone on to play professionally include Bryan Bailey '02 (Germany, Poland, Netherlands, Bosnia), Donald Brown '07 (Iceland), Zach Evans '10 (Israel), John Griffin '08 (Germany), Boakai Lalugba '03 (France, Sweden, Finland, USBL), Darryl Shazier '11 (Northern Ireland) and Davorin Skornik '04 (Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, Hungary).
"One of the great things about our program at Bucknell is that those who have professional aspirations can absolutely realize those goals with hard work and dedication," said Paulsen. "And then when their playing days are over, they have in their pocket a very prestigious Bucknell degree as they move on to the next phase of their lives."