UB should be well-represented in the NBA G-League this season, as four former men’s basketball players look to land a spot on a professional roster.
Former UB stars Jayvon Graves, Montell McRae, Antwain Johnson and Lamonte Bearden are all fighting for a spot in the developmental league this season.
Graves signed with the Austin Spurs, the G-League affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs, last week. He ranks eighth in program history with 1,436 points and earned NABC honor roll in 2021. The Malvern, OH native won two MAC Championships and made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament over his four years at UB. Graves averaged 14.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in 2020-21 and now looks to make his mark in Austin.
McRae was selected in the first round of the G-League Draft by the Cleveland Charge, the minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers. McRae, who averaged 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in two seasons with the Bulls, won two MAC Championships and competed in two NCAA Tournaments. He most recently played for the Sudbury Five of the National Basketball League of Canada.
Johnson signed with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Miami Heat’s minor league affiliate. Johnson played his first two seasons of college basketball with Middle Tennessee State and was forced to sit out the 2018-19 season due to NCAA Transfer rules. He then played his final year of college basketball with the Bulls in 2019-20. Johnson last played for Batumi of the Georgian Super League, where he averaged 16.1 points per game.
Bearden was part of two MAC Championship teams in 2014-15 and 2015-16 before transferring to Western Kentucky in the summer of 2016. Bearden was picked in the third round of the G-League draft by the Texas Legends, the G-League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. He averaged 18 points, 5.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game in his last season with Duzce of the Basketball Super League in Turkey.
This past summer, McRae, Johnson and Bearden were all members of the Blue Collar U team that made it to the final four of the The Basketball Tournament.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Sophie McNally is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. She is a history major studying abroad for a year from Newcastle University in the UK. In her spare time, she can be found blasting The 1975 or Taylor Swift and rowing on a random river at 5 a.m.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
