Ryan Turell could be NBA’s first Orthodox Jewish player
Fred Jeter | 3/31/2022, 6 p.m.
Ryan Turell
Ryan Turell is out to make history.
He has submitted his name to the June 23 NBA draft with hopes of becoming the league’s first Orthodox Jewish player.
The 6-foot-7 native of Los Angeles led the NCAA Division III in scoring this season (27.1 points per game) for Yeshiva University of New York. He shot 47 percent from 3-point range.
Turell, who wears a yarmulke while playing, accumulated 2,158 career points in 90 games for Yeshiva while being named this seasons’ Division III College Hoops Player of the Year.
While no Orthodox Jews have played in the NBA, there were many Reform Jewish players in the 1950s and 1960s, most no- tably stars Dolph Schayes and Larry Brown, and Boston Celtics Coach Red Auerbach.
