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Polish basketball team signs Naymick

July 20, 2008

Naymick

Former MSU basketball player Drew Naymick is preparing for a 4,500-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean to Poland, where he said he’ll continue his basketball career.

The 6-foot-10 center told The State News on Sunday that he signed a one-year contract with SKK Kotwica Kolobrzeg — a team in the Dominet Bank Ekstraliga, or Polish Basketball League. Naymick wouldn’t disclose further details on the contract.

“I’m very happy and excited to continue playing basketball,” Naymick said. “It’s a great opportunity for me, and if I play well it will give me a great chance to move up.”

Naymick graduated from MSU in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in finance. He considered parlaying his degree into a finance-related job, but toward the end of last season, he decided he’d rather continue his basketball career.

“I was starting to get some attention from agents and European teams,” Naymick said. “I knew I would have a pretty good chance to play somewhere and I decided to test the waters.”

The Muskegon native is the all-time leading shot blocker in both MSU history (134) and Michigan high school basketball history (527). After an up-and-down four years that included an injury-ridden 2005-06 season that forced him to take a medical redshirt, Naymick thrived as a senior, setting career highs with 4.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.

Naymick said he’ll fight for playing time in Poland by using the same tactics that helped him develop into a routine starter for the Spartans.

“I’ve learned a lot about toughness at MSU,” he said. “Working hard gave me the opportunity to play for MSU, and the same kind of thing is going to get me time over there.”

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