Southeast Missouri State University's Bud Eley put together a star-studded basketball career for the Indians.
And Tuesday, Eley received another honor when he was selected among some of the nation's top seniors for an all-star team that will play the Harlem Globetrotters in a three-game series this spring.
The 12-player squad will face the Globetrotters April 25 in Oakland, May 1 in Detroit and May 2 in Cincinnati. Ironically, Detroit is Eley's home town.
A 6-foot-10 center, Eley had a brilliant four-year career with the Indians, capped by a dominating senior season that resulted in him being named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.
Eley averaged 15.4 points and 10.9 rebounds per game this year, ranking sixth nationally in rebounding and seventh in field-goal percentage (59.4 percent). He wound up as Southeast's career leader in rebounds and blocked shots.
Selected along with Eley for the all-star team are Melvin Levett (Cincinnati), Ademola Okulaja (North Carolina), Jelani Gardner (Pepperdine), Antonio Reynolds-Dean (Rhode Island), Peter Sauer (Stanford), Jermaine Jackson (Detroit), Lenny Brown (Xavier), Jeff Foster (Southwest Texas), Antonio Smith (Michigan State), Gene Carlisle (California) and Arthur Lee (Stanford).
"These games will delight many of our fans because they will be amazingly serious and competitive," said Mannie Jackson, owner of the Globetrotters.
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.