Nowadays, every year there are a couple international prospects that appear near the top of a lot of NBA draft boards, even though few people in the United States have ever seen them play. They put up huge stats in Europe, and NBA GMs hope and pray that those prospects turn into the players they projected them to be.
Rewind to about 15 years ago, when on March 22nd, 2004, a young 7’-1” Russian prospect playing in Ontario, Canada by the name of Ivan Chiriaev committed to play basketball at Iowa State University.
That’s where this journey begins.