Syracuse Men's Basketball

Nichols Completes Two-Week Rush Week

It's more basketball, I mean, баскетбол, for former Syracuse Orange basketball player Demetris Nichols.

By Matt McClusky Sep 10, 2014, 3:18pm EDT

Would you believe it's been over eleven years since Demetris Nichols first set foot onto the Jim Boeheim court at the Carrier Dome? And seven-plus years after graduating and leaving Central New York, Nichols continues to keep his feet on basketball courts across the world.

Mike Waters of Syracuse.com and Syracuse Post Standard is reporting Nichols has signed on with CSKA Moscow after a two-week tryout period. In a text message to Waters, Nichols' agent Bill Neff wrote, "Demetris Nichols finished his tryout today and will play this season for CSKA in Russia."

Since graduating in 2007, Nichols has had a few cups of coffee in the NBA but has mostly played overseas, where he has thrived. Just last year, playing for Krasnie Krilya Samara, Nichols averaged 14 points and just under four rebounds per game. The latest overseas venture, though, is probably the most high-profiled of Nichols' basketball destinations. It's a franchise Neff considers "the best team in the world outside of the NBA."

CSKA coach ~~Borris Badenov~~ Dimitris Itoudis, for his part, sounded intrigued at the idea of landing Nichols. Itoudis was quoted by Euroleague.net last month (prior to the tryout) saying, "He {Demetris} is a so-called 'stretch 4,' a power forward with good outside shooting. Nichols is an extremely good athlete who can easily switch and defend in the perimeter. It is important that he is very motivated to play for CKSA. He will start on a two-week tryout period and I hope we can continue our collaboration after that."

While I'm not so sure a "two-week tryout" period isn't overkill (I mean, what do you learn in day thirteen that you couldn't have figured out about a player in day six or seven?), Nichols figures to play an important role for CSKA -- a franchise that was involved in eight-straight Euroleague Final Fours from 2003 to 2010. Even Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian legend, played George Steinbrenner to the franchise during that amazing run.

As for this particular roster, Nichols is joining fellow Americans Aaron Jackson, Sonny Weems and Kyle Hines on team CSKA. Really, in scanning things over, Demetris' name seems to fit in better in comparison to his other western hemisphere mates.

PBC CSKA Moscow roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Age
PG	1	de Colo, Nando	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	27 – June 23, 1987
PG	4	Teodosić, Miloš	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	27 – March 19, 1987
SG	7	Fridzon, Vitaly	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	28 – October 14, 1985
PG	9	Jackson, Aaron	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	83 kg (183 lb)	28 – May 6, 1986
SG	11	Markoishvili, Manuchar	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	91 kg (201 lb)	27 – November 17, 1986
C	12	Korobkov, Pavel	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	99 kg (218 lb)	24 – October 18, 1989
SF	13	Weems, Sonny	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	93 kg (205 lb)	28 – July 8, 1986
SG	14	Zozulin, Aleksei	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)	100 kg (220 lb)	31 – January 14, 1983
PG	19	Strebkov, Ivan	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	23 – July 27, 1991
PF	20	Vorontsevich, Andrey	2.07 m (6 ft 9 in)	107 kg (236 lb)	27 – July 17, 1987
C	24	Kaun, Alexander	2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)	116 kg (256 lb)	29 – May 8, 1985
PF	31	Khryapa, Viktor (C)	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	101 kg (223 lb)	32 – August 3, 1982
C	42	Hines, Kyle	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	111 kg (245 lb)	28 – September 2, 1986
SF	--	Nichols, Demetris	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	96 kg (212 lb)	30 – September 4, 1984