Kellen Smith signs to play professionally in Australia - Saginaw Valley State

 

Opportunity to see another part of the world and keep on playing basketball!

Congratulations!

Best wishes! His parents must be proud!

Kellen Smith signs to play professionally in Australia - Saginaw Valley State

 

Opportunity to see another part of the world and keep on playing basketball!

Awesome!! Congrats to a great kid and family.

How is the for an decent debut. 23 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds! Way to go Kellen!

 

FIBA LiveStats

Kellen Smith signs to play professionally in Australia - Saginaw Valley State

 

Opportunity to see another part of the world and keep on playing basketball!

 

Any clue at all what kind of money he might be making. Obviously a great opportunity to see an interesting part of the world and not have to deal with a language barrier.

Any clue at all what kind of money he might be making. Obviously a great opportunity to see an interesting part of the world and not have to deal with a language barrier.

 

Pretty good insight on this one!

 

Currently playing in SA Premier League. This is one of the state leagues in Australia and considered a second tier league. Each club/team have players that have played in the NBL (top tier Australian League) along with players who have played collegiately in the US.

 

Proverbial foot in the door as far as playing professional basketball. First contract is hard and second contract is harder however if you get the second contract you start making a worthwhile living.

 

League allows two import players per team. Imports are paid more than the resident Australian players and are under more pressure to perform and put up numbers. Import players in the league are generally D1/D2 players from mid-majors to major conferences.

 

Kellen is making $300/game in addition to free housing, use of a car and food expense. They basically take him to the grocery every couple of weeks and provide him a list of restaurants he can go to and have the club billed. They also provide him employment with the club working with young players, camps, etc

 

Good news is that after his debut his agent has already had inquiries from teams for next season that would provide a significant increase in pay. Definitely not getting rich but still getting an opportunity to play the game.