Yeshiva University’s Ryan Turell will not play in the summer league as he’s yet to be cleared from his injury, according to ESPN. Back in March, Turell, a Division III star, was forced to withdraw from the NBA G League Elite Camp after suffering a minor injury in a workout. His injury will also keep him off the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas.
Turell, who wears his yarmulke on the basketball court, told ESPN earlier this year: “Being the first Orthodox Jew in the NBA would mean the world to me, and a dream come true, God willing. But, just as importantly, it would mean the world to others that never saw this as a possibility.”
For the record: the first drafted Orthodox Jew was Dave Kufeld, selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1980 NBA draft.
Last week, Turell told Israel’s Sports5 channel: “I don’t know if you know it, but unfortunately the day before the G-League combine I broke the fifth metatarsal bone in my foot and couldn’t attend. I haven’t really played basketball since, so I couldn’t train with NBA teams and I missed the pre-draft process.”
The metatarsal bones, or metatarsus, are a group of five long bones in the foot, located between the tarsal bones of the hind- and mid-foot and the phalanges of the toes.
“I was tested by the Milwaukee Bucks before I was injured,” Turell revealed, adding, “I did great, I played really well. Milwaukee is a great team, it’s a professional organization and everyone I met was very nice to me. The training was excellent, I enjoyed it.”
As the draft concluded on June 24th he can’t be drafted this time. But, he could still be signed as a free agent.
About the status of his foot injury, Turell said, “I’m still recovering, I still have a few weeks left until I can return to the parquet. In the meantime, I’m undergoing physiotherapy and lifting weights to get better.”
In early March, before his injury, Turell told ESPN he plans to skip his final year of college eligibility and take his chances with the 2022 NBA draft. “My full intention is to play professional basketball next year,” he said.
