University of New Hampshire Athletics
Alum Jaleen Smith signs three-year deal with Alba Berlin in Germany
8/25/2021 5:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Smith most recently played with the NBA's Phoenix Suns in the Las Vegas Summer League
DURHAM, N.H. -- University of New Hampshire men's basketball alum Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) has signed a three-year contract with Alba Berlin on the EuroLeague in Germany.
Smith played four seasons (2013-17) for the Wildcats and was a two-time America East All-Conference Second-Team selection. He finished his career fifth on the UNH all-time scoring list (1,397 points), first in games played (122), fifth in assists (364) and second in minutes (3,784). He is the first Wildcat with 1,000+ points, 260+ assists and 600+ rebounds. In his senior season, he played and started in all 32 games, averaging 36.2 minutes per game and recorded 506 points on the season, averaging 15.8 points per game, which was second on the team, and eighth in the conference Smith also led team in assists with 137, ranked third in conference.
UNH head coach Bill Herrion: "We are very happy and proud of Jaleen continuing his professional basketball career with the top team in Germany, Alba Berlin. They also play in the EuroLeague which is one of the top professional basketball leagues in the world. It was great watching Jaleen play this summer with the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Summer League and there is no question that experience will help him take the next step playing in Germany."
Jaleen Smith: "ALBA is a very good place for me. I've only heard good things about the family atmosphere within the club and the style of play at ALBA suits me very well. I'm really looking forward to joining ALBA in the EuroLeague with the best teams To measure Europe. The city of Berlin also fascinates me a lot and I can hardly wait to discover it further. "
ALBA sporting director Himar Ojeda : "In his four seasons so far in Germany, Jaleen has always worked hard on himself and continuously developed. We appreciate his attitude and his skills very much. We are convinced that he will be in can improve our program even further. "
ALBA head coach Israel González: "Jaleen Smith fits perfectly into our team in terms of play and character. With his versatility, athleticism and game intelligence, he is a great reinforcement both on the offensive and on the defensive. It helps that most of our players and coaches stayed together last season us a lot and makes the integration of the three newcomers easier. The team has become younger overall and will learn and improve a lot over the course of the season. "
After graduating from college, Smith took the plunge to Germany in 2017 and signed a contract with MLP Academics Heidelberg from the ProA. Here he started after a settling-in period in the first year in the second season and scored 12.7 points in just 29 minutes, got 4.1 rebounds and distributed 2.7 assists. With these performances, the Guard aroused interest in the Bundesliga. Smith moved to the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg for the 2019/20 season. In his first season, the American reached the final of the BBL playoffs with the Ludwigsburg team, but had to admit defeat to the Albatrosses. In 2020/21 Smith continued to improve and was rewarded with the MVP title for an average of 15.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.7 steals.
This summer Smith played in five games for the NBA's Phoenix Suns in the Las Vegas summer league and scored 9.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in just under 27 minutes per game for the defending Western Conference Champions.