UTICA, NY – After a remarkable four-year basketball career at SUNYIT, David Golembiowski (Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent) will now take his talents overseas to play with the German professional club team BG Bonn Meckenheim.
"We are so happy for Dave to have this wonderful opportunity to experience more of the world while playing professional basketball," said SUNYIT Athletic Director and Head Men's Basketball Coach Kevin Grimmer. "Dave has the ability to do very well in Germany and will only get better as he continues to develop, especially playing against strong European competition."
Golembiowski, the first SUNYIT student-athlete to ever sign with a professional team at any level, signed an eighth-month contract with the team that runs from August 2011 through April 2012 and will include housing and relocation expenses. In addition to being on the player roster, Golembiowski will also help coach two of the younger teams within the club, and he is very excited for both opportunities.
"I think it's going to be a great experience for me," explained Golembiowski. "Playing overseas has always been a dream of mine. I want to thank everyone who helped me get to this point, from the coaches at SUNYIT to my parents and grandparents."
Golembiowski said he pitched his player profile that included game film, a resume and career statistics to multiple international teams via email in the hopes of getting noticed.
"I knew I had to market myself to help those teams find me," he said.
BG Bonn Meckenheim did notice and became very interested. After several conversations between both sides over the past few weeks, the two came to an agreement and Golembiowski will now join a squad that went 16-6 last season and finished in second place in the West-1 Division standings of "2.Regionalliga," or Regional League 2.
The league is one of five levels of club basketball in Germany, joining Regional League 1, Pro A, Pro B and "Basketball Bundesliga," which is known in English as the Federal Basketball League and is the highest of the five levels of competition.
Golembiowski will leave for Bonn, Germany on Monday, August 22 and will begin practicing with the team in early September. The Regional League's season will begin at the end of September and will last until the final week of March, with Golembiowski returning home shortly thereafter. As of today, the team's schedule has not yet been posted on its website.
Golembiowski capped off his incredible Wildcat career by receiving five national honors this past season. He was selected to the 2010-11 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Upstate Men's Basketball All-Star Team, as well as being named to the D3Hoops.com All-America Second Team, with the website also naming him the All-East Region Player of the Year after twice choosing him to its National Team of the Week during the season. He was also selected to the 2011 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District East Region First Team, while being one of 20 players chosen out of the 88 fellow honorees to participate in the NABC Reese's Division III College All-Star Game. As a member of the East Team, Golembiowski finished with team-highs of 14 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks in the contest, which was held prior to the NCAA Division III men's basketball championship game at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va.
Golembiowski, the program's all-time leader in career points, rebounds, blocks and 3-pointers made, also won his third straight North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Player of the Year award and earned his third consecutive selection to the NEAC All-Conference First Team after leading the conference in both points and rebounds. The 6-foot-7 forward also led the Wildcats in points, rebounds, blocks and 3-pointers made and finished fifth in the nation in points per game (24.6), while being 16th in double-doubles (15), 17th in rebounds per game (11.2) and 23rd in blocks per game (2.4). A four-year starter, Golembiowski was the first Wildcat to ever score 2,000 career points and finished with career averages of 20.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 2.6 3-pointers made in 105 contests, while boasting shooting averages of 49 percent from the field, 35 percent from beyond the arc and 76 percent from the free throw line.
The Wildcat basketball program reached unprecedented heights during Golembiowski's four years on the team, winning back-to-back NEAC Championships and making two consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2009 and 2010, marking the first time that any sport in the school's history had qualified for tournament play. While there, the team compiled a respectable cumulative record of 3-2, reaching the second round in 2009 and the Sweet 16 in 2010. This past season, the squad finished 14-11 overall and made an appearance in the NEAC Tournament semifinals.