No. 14 – Maccabi Haifa | |
---|---|
Position | Power forward / center |
League | Liga Leumit |
Personal information | |
Born | Coral Springs, Florida, U.S. | December 13, 1998
Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Zion Lutheran ( Deerfield Beach, Florida) |
College |
|
NBA draft | 2021: undrafted |
Playing career | 2021–present |
Career history | |
2021–2022 | Hapoel Be'er Sheva |
2022–present | Maccabi Haifa B.C. |
Eli Abaev (Hebrew: אלי אבייב; born December 13, 1998) is an American-Israeli basketball player for Maccabi Haifa of the Liga Leumit. He plays at the power forward and center positions. [1] He played college basketball for Eastern Florida State College, Austin Peay State University, and Florida Gulf Coast University.
Abaev was born in Israel and moved to the United States as a child. His hometown is Coral Springs, Florida, and he is Jewish. [2] [3] [4] [5] [1] He is 6' 8" (203 cm) tall. [1] He weighs 205 pounds (93 kg). [1]
He played at Zion Lutheran High School in Deerfield Beach. [4] [6] There, Abaev averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds per game on 56% shooting from the floor for the Lions. [4] [6]
Abaev began his college career playing for Eastern Florida State College for two years. [7] In 2016–17 in his first season, as the Titans were national runners-up, as a freshman he shot 59.8% from the floor, and had 7.4 rebounds per game. [4] [8] [9] He was named to the 2017 National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Championship All-Tournament team. [4] [8] [9]
In 2017–18 Abaev helped the Titans finish third in the NJCAA National Championship Tournament. [4] [8] [10] He averaged 9.1 points and 9.8 rebounds (2nd in NJCAA Region 8) per game, shot 52.9% from the floor, and received First Team All- Mid-Florida Conference honors. [4] [8] [10]
He transferred to Austin Peay State University, and in 2018–19 due to a lower-body injury he redshirted. [4] [11] [12]
As a redshirt junior in 2019–20 he played for Austin Peay. [7] [4] In 2019–20 Abaev averaged 7.9 points and 7.7 rebounds (4th in the Ohio Valley Conference) per game for the Austin Peay Governors, shooting 50.6% from the field. [4] [11] [12]
Abaev then transferred and attended Florida Gulf Coast University, graduating in 2021. [12] [1] In 2020–21 he played for the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. [5] [11] He averaged 7.1 points, 7.4 rebounds (3rd in the Atlantic Sun Conference), and 0.7 blocks (4th) per game. [5] [11]
Abaev started his professional career playing for Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, with whom he signed on June 21, 2021. [1] [9] [13] [14]
Abaev played for Team USA in the 2019 European Maccabi Games, winning a gold medal and averaging 17.0 points and 15.3 rebounds in six games. [4] In the gold medal game against Team Russia, he scored 23 points and had 28 rebounds. [12]