SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – Lake Superior State forward Alex Williams announced Sunday that he was drafted in the first round, seventh overall, by the Windsor Express of NBL-Canada. Williams is one of three Lakers playing professional basketball.
Maria Blazejewski ’13 recently finished her third professional season in her fourth country. She scored 12 points in Puerto Rico’s all-star game on Sept. 19. Forward Devin Daly ’16 just started his rookie season in Denmark, and center Eric Menk ’96 continues his celebrity status in the Pilippino League though he has not been picked up by a team in 2016-17.
Alex Williams
Williams begins training camp in Windsor on Dec. 12. Last winter, the highly regarded shooter and defender played his rookie season for Soles de Ojinaga of the Mexican Chihuahua League, where he averaged 21 points, four rebounds and four assists per game.
Maria Blazejewski
Blazejewski ranked second in scoring and eighth in rebounding in the Puerto Rican League (BSNF) last summer. She averaged 20.7 points, 9.4 rebounds and three assists per game. She played her first two professional seasons in the Czech Republic, and last winter averaged 14.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for Grunberg of Germany’s DBBL North League.
During the Puerto Rican all-star game, Blazejewski was surpassed in scoring only by NCAA Division I standouts Ali Gibson (Oregon State), Tierra Henderson (UCLA), Kayla Thornton (UTEP) and Alexis Hornbuckle (Tennessee).
Devin Daly
Daly’s squad, Team FOG Naestved, consists of mostly first-year pros and is off to a 2-5 start. So far, the athletic playmaker is averaging 9.0 points and 3.4 rebounds while playing 26:53 per game.
“We are starting to come together as a team and play more consistently over the past two games,” Daly said.
Eric Menk
Menk, 42, played the previous two seasons for the Alaska Aces after spending most of his professional career with the Barangay Ginebra Kings of the Philippine Basketball Association. Known in the PBA as “Major Pain,” the 6-6, 220-pound veteran was waived by the Aces after contributing 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game last season.
When he was with Genebra, Menk was a four-time PBA champion and the 2004-05 PBA most-valuable player. He last averaged in double figures in scoring in 2009-10 and has a professional career average of 11.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Menk can be followed on his web site, ericmenk.com.
