Glasser inks pro deal with Maccabi Haifa
The Maccabi Haifa Israeli professional basketball team of the Israeli Basketball Super League has announced they have signed Sun Devil and ASU graduate Derek Glasser to a one-year contract.
Glasser, 22, was a three-year starter for ASU where he played in a school record 131-games (20 of them turnover-free) from 2006-2010 and shattered ASU's all-time assist record, posting 551 career assists. The 6-foot-1-inch point guard averaged 30.2 minutes per game, starting in 104 games, which is fourth-most in ASU's history. He is the all-time leading free throw shooter at ASU, making 295-of-352 (83.8%) free throws and is the first ASU player to total more than 1,000 career points (1,028) and 500 assists (551). Glasser finished with 149 career three-pointers, which is ninth all-time at ASU.
During his senior season, Glasser averaged 10.1 points per game, where he led the Pac-10 conference in assists (4.8) and in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.16) with 158 assists and just 73 turnovers in 33 games. As a junior, Glasser was ASU's best player in the 2009 postseason, as he averaged 13.7 points in the Pac-10 Tournament and posted a career-high 22 points in the team's victory over Temple in the first-round of the NCAA tournament. In 2009, Glasser was named to the first-team Pac-10 All-Academic team.
Glasser, who was selected as a four-time All-America first-team guard by Jewish Sports Review, will make Aliyah - becoming an Israeli citizen - for the upcoming 2010-11 season.
"We are excited to have Derek Glasser join Maccabi Haifa," said Maccabi Haifa owner and American businessman Jeffrey Rosen. "Derek was one of the top rated collegiate Jewish basketball players in the United States. We are proud that Maccabi Haifa will provide him with an opportunity to make Aliyah and continue his basketball career in Israel."
"Derek has excellent court leadership and does a great job of controlling and distributing the basketball," said coach Elad Hasin. "He will be a valuable asset to our team this season."
Glasser, a native of Marina del Rey, California, becomes the third player to join Maccabi Haifa for the 2010-11 season. Maccabi Haifa will hold its third-annual U.S. tryouts at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on July 20 and 21 to sign some of the elite talent in the United States.
Maccabi Haifa will travel to the United States to play the NBA's New Jersey Nets in the first preseason game at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on October 3, 2010. Maccabi Haifa's 30-minute magazine TV show, "Inside Israeli Basketball," (www.insideisraelibasketball.com) is aired monthly from November to June on the YES Network (Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network), SUN Sports (home to the Miami Heat), Comcast Versus (home to the NHL), and Jewish Life Television (available in over 25 million homes in the US). The show captures the intricacies of Israel and the Super League seen through the eyes of Maccabi Haifa's American players and their Israeli counterparts.
About Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa, an Israeli Basketball Super League team, has a long and storied legacy as they were one of the original eight teams to form the Premier League during the 1954 season. This past season under the ownership of American businessman Jeffrey Rosen, the team earned an appearance in both the Premier League Finals as well as the State Cup Finals in the team's first season back in the Premier League after a 10-year absence. The team was purchased by Jeffrey Rosen in July 2007. For more information about Maccabi Haifa, please visit www.mhbasket.co.il.
About Triangle Financial Services
Triangle Financial Services, a sports and entertainment investment firm based in Aventura , Fla. , has a diverse portfolio of international sports enterprises. The recent acquisition of the Maccabi Haifa professional basketball team in Israel along with the launch of TriangleInternet.tv the first-ever Internet TV site to feature full-length Israeli Premier League games and highlights in English, represent Triangle's continued effort to invest in emerging international sports ventures. For more information on Triangle Financial Services, please visit www.trianglefs.com.