In a story first released by Sun Media's Neate Sager , 6'7" Carleton All-Canadian Aaron Doornekamp has signed a pro contract with Eldo Caserta, an Italian Seria A team in Southern Italy. See below for the story in this morning's Ottawa Sun and for the story on the cisblog.
Carleton Head Coach Dave Smart was justifiably proud of his nephew who he has coached, well basically since Aaron started playing basketball: "They're getting a winner in every sense of the word. He's a guy who will do everything it takes to lead a winning program and the entire Carleton community is happy for him."
In other news, former five-time CIS champion and two-time Moser Award winner Osvaldo Jeanty, who graduated from Carleton after the 2006-07 season, has signed what was described as "rich" contract with a professional team in Morocco. Jeanty spent his first two professional seasons in Germany, leading his club to a promotion into the first division this past season. Another Carleton grad, Ryan Bell continues to weigh some options for continuing his professional career as he works at training camp with Canada's National team.
Ravens star joins Italian pro team
Carleton Ravens grad Aaron Doornekamp apparently got the attention of the right people. The member of Canada's national basketball team, who was at the centre of a widely viewed on-court fracas two weeks ago in Italy, has signed with Eldo Caserta in Serie A, the country's top league.
The 6-foot-8 Doornekamp, 23, is training with Canada's senior men's national team in Puerto Rico as it readies for an upcoming qualifier for the 2010 world championship in Turkey.
The native of Odessa helped the Ravens win four CIS titles during his five seasons. He averaged 14.4 points and a team-high seven rebounds last season while shooting an even 50% from three-point range, fourth-best in Canada. He was also Canadian Interuniversity Sport player of the year in 2007-08.
Doornekamp, whose older brother Nate also played pro hoops in Europe, is joining an Eldo Caserta team which is entering its second season in Serie A since winning promotion in 2007-08. Located in the Campania region of southern Italy, Eldo Caserta went 11-19 last season.
During the final seconds of a Canada-Italy friendly two weeks ago, Doornekamp was blindsided by Italian forward Stefano Mancinelli, causing both benches to clear. The video went viral, but the Italian team apologized for the incident and Doornekamp was not injured.
Canada, coached Leo Rautins, is readying for the Tuto Marchand Cup in San Juan, P.R., which begins Tuesday. It is a tune-up for the Aug. 26-Sept. 6 upcoming FIBA Americas championship, where Canada needs a top-four finish to qualify for the 2010 worlds.
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