Worldwide: Spider Standouts Making an Impact Across the Globe
05/09/2025 | Men's Basketball
ATHENS, GREECE – Isaiah Bigelow, a key starter for the Spiders in 2023-24, began his overseas pro basketball career this season in western Hungary.
"It has definitely been awesome; it has been way better than I could have imagined," said the 25-year-old forward.
Winchester, Va. native Grant Golden, 27, who aided the Richmond Atlantic 10 Conference tournament title run in 2022, is winding up his second year in Europe in the Greek league after an earlier stop in Italy and in the NBA G League. "My mind is definitely now on Europe," he said, sitting on a fifth-floor rooftop balcony in downtown Athens during a recent interview.
And former NBA player Jacob Gilyard, 26, good friends since college days with Golden, started his global sojourn in February with a club in Germany – now realizing his future likely lies in European leagues. "That is the approach that I am taking," said the guard from Kansas City in a phone interview in early May.
The trio of pro hoopsters are among about a dozen former University of Richmond basketball standouts who played at the pro level in 2024-25, with the bulk of them in some of the top leagues in Europe.
Other ex-Spiders who played at the pro level this season, according to eurobasket.com, include Solly Stansbury and Jordan King (Spain); Neal Quinn (France); Tyler Harris (Australia); Matt Grace (Austria); Blake Francis, Andre Gustavson and David Gonzalvez (Finland); Nathan Cayo (England); Kendall Anthony (Israel); Terry Allen (Japan); and Tyler Burton, who was with the Memphis Hustle in the NBA G League, and TJ Cline, a member of the stateside Big3 league.
In addition, Richmond native and Meadowbrook High graduate Justin Harper – who ended his career with the Spiders in 2011 – had a long overseas run with stops in France, Israel, Italy, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and most recently Japan, late in 2024. Former UR star Kenny Atkinson, the coach of Cleveland in the NBA, played in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands and was an assistant coach with Paris Racing Basket in France before becoming an assistant coach with the NBA Knicks in 2008.
WEIGHING THE OPTIONS
While the NBA is a logical goal for many top Division I products, a career in Europe provides North Americans with the opportunity to face top competition, earn a salary which is normally at least six figures in some of the top circuits – and a chance to see the world. The best domestic leagues, according to import players, are in France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Russia, Israel, Germany and Turkey.
Top players such as Gilyard and Golden must weigh the pro and cons of playing in the G League in North America or heading overseas – where they can make more money but are away from family and friends while adjusting to a new culture.
"There are definitely good and bad on both sides," said Gilyard, who was averaging about 11 points per contest in mid-May for Chemnitz, a city of about 250,000 in eastern Germany, near Dresden. "The NBA is getting younger and younger. Older guys are less valued."
After a few months of being on his own in Germany, Gilyard was grateful to welcome some American visitors to Chemnitz in early May. Around the time of the visit, he had 10 points and four assists as his team won 104-100 in the German BBL over Ludwigsburg.
Golden scored 2,246 points during his career with the Spiders – that ranks him second in school history back of Johnny Newman, a Danville native who played in the NBA from 1986 to 2002. A post player, Golden played in the G League for the Denver Nuggets before heading to Italy.
"I had no thoughts about the NBA G League," said Golden, after a recent practice in Athens. "It was never really anything that interested me. I did know the Nuggets were interested in me. If it was any other team, I wouldn't have done it. I have now had two good years and built up my reputation (in Europe). I love being here. I am very happy here."
Like most American ballers in Europe, Golden is provided the free use of an apartment and a car. He lives in a fashionable neighborhood north of downtown Athens and has seen some of the famous sites in the city such as the Parthenon and Acropolis. His team has advanced to the semifinals in the Greek postseason league, which has 12 teams.
SUMMER IN RICHMOND
Bigelow averaged 11.2 points per game in his second of two seasons with the Spiders. A graduate student from Greensboro, North Carolina, he didn't know much about Hungary before signing with ZTE KK in Zalaegerszeg – a town of about 60,000 people in western Hungary near the border with Austria.
"I had a pretty good year last year at Richmond and I ended up going with an agent I was familiar with. I felt like I was in the portal again – I heard from so many agents," he said, with a laugh.
He teamed up with Mansfield Sports Agency, out of Ohio. One of his options was Finland, but Bigelow signed with the club in Hungary. "In June, I ended up signing early," said Bigelow, who was averaging about 17 points and nine boards per contest in early May. "This offer was better than the other ones that I had."
His club finished fifth in regular season play but knocked off the fourth seed in the playoffs to advance to the Hungarian semifinals.
Bigelow said he has been taken in by the close-knit basketball community – he said he even has a Hungarian "grandmother" who cooks for him at times.
"They showed a lot of support. It has been nothing short of amazing," he said. "At the beginning, there was a language barrier" but he has learned to understand Hungarians who speak English as a second language.
Adapting on the court from the NCAA has been a challenge. "It is very physical. (Officials) let a lot of contact go" without a foul call, he said.
Gilyard made his NBA debut with Memphis during the 2022-23 season then played 37 games with the Grizzlies and four with Brooklyn the next season.
After some G League connections with Long Island and Cleveland last year, he opted to try the European waters. His club in Germany has an arena that holds about 13,000 fans.
"If Europe was in the cards, I should test it out," Gilyard said. "I thought a four-month period would be perfect. You must work your way up" the European ladder.
Gilyard, Golden and Bigelow all hope to be on campus this summer in Richmond to work out with other former Spiders, some of whom are also playing overseas. Golden, like other alums, keeps in close contact with head coach Chris Mooney and his staff.
Then the trio will start hearing from their agents about pro-opportunities for the 2025-26 season – and there is a very good chance some domestic league in Europe will be part of their future. "They are in leagues I want to strive to get to," Bigelow said of Gilyard and Golden.
Editor's note: Harrisonburg native David Driver is the author of "Hoop Dreams in Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas," available on Amazon and at daytondavid.com. Driver lived three years in Hungary, currently lives in Poland and has interviewed American basketball players in more than 15 countries. He is the former sports editor of papers in Harrisonburg, Arlington and Baltimore, and has covered the Atlantic 10 Conference for more than 20 years for various outlets – including the UR title game win in 2022 in Washington, D.C.
