Alumni Update: Crimson Basketball Overseas

As the Harvard men’s basketball team prepares to open its 11th season under Coach Tommy Amaker, a few Crimson alums are making waves in the pros.

Wesley Saunders, Brandyn Curry, and Siyani Chambers, all of whom played under Amaker during Harvard’s 2014 March Madness run into the third round, are working towards replicating their success overseas.

After four years at Cambridge capped by an Ivy League Player of the Year Award as a senior in 2014, Wesley Saunders spent three seasons in the NBA D-League with affiliates of the New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. This past summer, the 6’6” shooting guard made his way to Italy, signing with Vanoli Cremona. Saunders has immediately become a star for the Italian side, leading the team in minutes (33.3) and steals per game (2.0) while also averaging 16.7 points and 6.3 assists per game.

Saunders’ teammate Brandyn Curry found immediate success upon graduation, signing with SPM Shoeters Den Bosch of the Dutch Basketball League in August of 2014. The 6’1” point guard led his team to a championship in his first season, being named the DBL Playoffs MVP. After making stops in Slovenia and Germany, Curry returned to the DBL with Donar Gronigen, securing the DBL Playoffs MVP once again and also winning the regular season MVP.

Former Ivy League Rookie of the Year Siyani Chambers, remembered at Harvard for helping the Crimson upset New Mexico in the second round of the NCAA tournament in his freshman year, has found a new home with the Gießen 46ers in Germany’s premier basketball league Basketball Bundesliga after spending last season in Austria with the Raiffeisen Flyers Wels. The former Crimson captain averaged 14.9 points, 5.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game in his first professional season in Austria, earning an all-star appearance in the Austrian Bundesliga A.

Harvard Basketball, ranked first in the Ivy League preseason poll, has plenty to look forward to this season both for itself and for its alums, many of whom are thriving overseas.