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PROVO — Elijah Bryant's basketball career isn't over after forgoing his final year of eligibility at BYU.
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound wing will play next year with Hapoel Eilat in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the league announced Thursday.
Bryant averaged 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 2017-18 en route to first-team All-West Coast Conference honors for the Cougars. He was the primary scoring option for much of the season, pairing with sophomore forward Yoeli Childs in the post while the team waited for the absence and NCAA investigation surrounding Nick Emery to be resolved.
But after the season, Bryant surprised many by declaring for the NBA draft and hiring an agent, effectively ending his college career with time remaining. He worked out with several NBA teams prior to the draft, including the Los Angeles, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz before joining Philadelphia's summer league squad through the summer.
Like former BYU post Eric Mika before him, though, Bryant's pro career will start overseas.
Hapoel Eilat (16-17) finish seventh last year in the league, which is also called the Winner League for sponsorship purposes. Among the club's roster a year ago is former Jazz/SLC Stars two-signee Eric Griffin, who averaged 12.9 points for the team before signing with Italy's Pallacanestro Reggiana in July.
