Former Duke basketball standout Jon Scheyer has left Maccabi Tel Aviv and returned to the United States, citing “personal reasons.”
Scheyer has played in seven of the team’s 16 games this season, averaging five minutes of playing time per contest.
A source told Eurobasket.com that “Jon’s leave was caused by a combination of not playing, latest rocket attacks towards Israel from the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military pressuring him to join.”
It remains unclear whether or not Scheyer will return to Israel this season. Another source told Eurobasket.com that Asefa Estudiantes, a team in the Spanish ACB, the league in which Kyle Singler currently plays, offered to buy out Scheyer. The 6-foot-5 guard was “disappointed” and “upset” by Maccabi Tel Aviv’s decision to disallow the buyout, considering he had been used only in garbage time during the early part of the season.
Interesting story. Sounds like Jon will either join the Israeli fighting forces or leave town. Not sure if he realized the danger of living in Israel, nor the pressure he’d get, as a Jew, to serve in the military. I hope he is allowed to play for the Spanish team and have a good career overseas.