The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE latest stop on the pro basketball circuit for Bennet Davis will feature his return to a familiar stop and his second stint in Hungary.

Davis has signed to MAFC Budapest of the Hungarian Basketball League, the highest level league of basketball in the country.

The league comprises 14 teams, the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs. Teams at the bottom of the league play in a contrasting bracket and are relegated to a lower tier.

MAFC has been an active member of the Hungarian Basketball League since 1934 and has participated continuously in all leagues since then. As a result is the third most successful club in the Hungarian league with seven national championships, 23 silver medals and 10 bronze medals.

The 33-year-old veteran forward most recently played for a pair of French clubs. His latest stop was as a member of SAP Vaucluse in the French NM1 league. In 17 games for the team, he averaged 11.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game last season.

Earlier in the season, he also played for Saint Chamond in French Pro B league where in 11 games he had 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. He was selected to Eurobasket.com’s All-French NM1 Honourable Mention.

In the season prior, his first season in France, Davis helped his Union Basket Chartes Metropole club to a playoff berth and averaged 13 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

Basket Chartes Metropole is a club in the France Championship Men National Basketball 1, also known as the NM1. It is the third level of French basketball behind the Pro A and Pro B. The NM1 is the highest division only managed by the French Federation Basketball.

Davis spent parts of the previous season with three clubs, Kaposvari KK of the Hungarian NBIA (19 games), KK Zadar of the Croatian A-1 Liga (4 games), and GreenTops Netanya of the Israeli Premier League (11 games).

For the year he averaged 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. He had his most productive stint with Kaposvari where he averaged 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

In the 2012-13 season, Davis suited up for Marso NYKK in Hungary where he averaged 16.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He has also played professionally in Israel (GreenTops Netanya), Finland (KTP), Japan (Niigata Albirex), Spain (Palencia), Puerto Rico (Cangrejeros), Mexico and most notably, with the Utah Flash of the NBA’s Developmental League.

Davis briefly flirted with an NBA contract when he was called up by the New Jersey Nets prior to the 2009-10 season. He appeared in a single preseason game, totalled a single rebound in just four minutes of action against the New York Knicks and was waived.

His most notable D-League achievement came when he was named to the NBA D-League’s Select team which competed against some of the league’s best rookies and young talent at the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League.

After graduating on the University of Northeastern in 2007 where he averaged 15 points, 6.6 rebounds 2.2 assists and 2.1 blocks per game, he began his professional career with Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan in Israel where he averaged 7.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

He was drafted by the Flash in 2008 and in his initial season with the Flash, Davis started just 14 games and averaged 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds.

In his sophomore campaign, he doubled productivity in both areas with averages of 13.7 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 41 per cent from the field.