MUNICH, Germany - Elijah Stephens had been in Germany just a few weeks when he had his first a-ha moment, which he conveyed to roommate Aaron Badibo of London.

"It took about a month," said Stephens, the former AU point guard. "Dang, bro, we are in Germany. We are getting paid to play in Germany" was the message to his teammate, who played in college at Malone in Ohio.

A few months after lifting the Eagles to a Patriot League title and trip to March Madness in 2025, Stephens has made the transition to the life of a pro basketball player in Europe. The Texas native is playing for BG Hagen in a regional league, the fourth-best circuit in Germany.

"The biggest adjustment is the speed of the game is much faster," the 5-foot-9 Stephens said in a phone interview. "The shot clock is shorter (from 30 to 24 seconds), and the first open look is sometimes the best shot over here."

Stephens is not alone - several former Eagles have also kept their hoop dreams alive overseas.

One of them is Jaxon Knotek, who played two seasons at AU through the 2022-23 season. He is now playing for a team in Olaz in northeast Spain after a stint in the G League in 2024-25 with the Iowa Wolves. "The pros of being in America in the G League is you are close to home and family," he said. "Overseas, especially at the start of your career, you are really trying to make a name for yourself. It helps your resume." The pay is much better as well overseas than in the G League.

Charles Hinkle, who ended his college career at AU in 2012, has seen the world since then – with stops in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Paraguay, Qatar, Turkey and Uruguay, per eurobasket.com. The 6-6 guard from Los Angeles played in 50 games in a Brazilian league last season and began the 2025-26 campaign with the Olimpia Kings in Paraguay.

Former AU star Andre Ingram, who played in six games with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2017-19, performed for the Perth Wildcats in Australia in 2016.

FROM BENDER ARENA TO GERMANY

Stephens averaged 10.6 points per game for the Eagles last season and led the club in assists with 117. He had seven points and four assists against Navy as AU won the title game of the Patriot League Tournament, then had 12 points and five assists in the loss to Mount St. Mary’s in the NCAA Tournament in March.

After taking some time off, the guard did his homework to come up with an agent for his pro career. “After the season, a bunch of agents started reaching out,” he said. “I did a bunch of calls with agents and narrowed down my list in the first two months. I narrowed it down to about three of them.”

He decided to go with Raleigh Powell, who graduated from Bowie State and has an MBA from George Washington University.

“It was just a good feeling. He had seen me play in person several times,” Stephens said. “He knew my game in and out. His past clients are doing good overseas. I just followed my gut.”

While visiting a friend in Turkey this past summer, Stephens learned of the interest from BC Hagen. “The German coach called me, and he said he felt I would be a good fit for them. It sounded like the things I wanted to hear from a coach. My agent felt like it would be the best spot for me, especially for my first year,” he said.

He is now playing in the small town of Hagen in western Germany, just a few miles south of Dortmund. The other American on the team is Texas native Bryce Okpoh, who ended his college career at Canisius in 2024.

Stephens said his career at AU helped him on and off the court to prepare for the next step.

Not only was head coach Duane Simpkins a point guard in college, but the AU mentor played overseas. After starring at Maryland, Simpkins played in China, Italy, France, Belgium, and the Dominican Republic. “He taught me to be more vocal,” Stephens said of Simpkins.

“I told Elijah he will be able to utilize his speed to really stand out in Europe,” Simpkins wrote in an email. “There won’t be many teams that will have the overall speed of the teams that he’s faced in college. I also told him not to be reckless with his speed, and he still needs to play off two feet and minimize his turnovers. Also told him that he will need to continue to take steps with his shooting efficiency - making open jumpers from three-point range at a 35 percent clip or better.”

Other staff connections to overseas basketball includes assistant coach Isaiah Tate, who played professionally in Spain, China, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

ANOTHER AU EURO CONNECTION

The playing career is over for former AU star Vlad Moldoveau, an All-Patriot League player in 2011-12, but the native of Romania still makes an impact on the game internationally.

After playing in Italy, France, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Turkey, and Greece through 2023, he is now an agent and helps former college players continue their careers as pros. One of his clients is Nic Lynch, a former standout at Lehigh of the Patriot League who is now with a club in Graz, Austria.

Other former American men to play overseas in recent years, according to eurobasket.com, include (not a complete list):

*Kyprianos Maragkos, a native of Greece who began this season in Cyprus. 

*Andrija Matic, a native of Serbia who played in Romania in 2024-25 after stops in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. 

*Cheikh Diallo, who played for the Senegal national team earlier this year in the African Championships and spent a season with a club in France. 

*Stacy Beckton, Jr., who played in the Netherlands from 2022-24.

*Josh Alexander, who suited up in hoop-crazy Lithuania in 2022-23 then played part of the next season for the Motor City Cruise in the NBA G League. 

*Sa’eed Nelson, who starred last season in Lebanon after stops in Germany, Estonia, England and Romania. 

*Lithuania native Linas Lekavicius, who had a long career in eastern Europe, including Russia, from 2007-23. 

*Vlad Buscaglia, a native of Switzerland who ended his AU career in 2002 then played overseas for nearly 20 years.

*Connor Nelson, who played with the Essex Rebels London in England from 2023-25. He is currently playing in Germany after his two seasons in England.

"I believe AU prepared me really well for the pro game," Matic wrote from his home in Belgrade, Serbia. [Former coach Mike Brennan] "and his staff did an amazing job working on my movement, quickness, knowledge of the game, and skills."

Matic played until last March but stopped as his business "took off" as he helps youth prepare to attend college.

On the women’s side, ex-Eagles standout Tori Halvorsen has played several years in her native Norway. She was averaging 12.5 points per contest for a team in Oslo in late October.

Elina Koskimies, who ended her college career at Bender Arena in 2019, has played in Spain and France and was averaging 9.3 points per outing early on this season in Germany. Karla Vres, who transferred from AU to Ohio State, is playing in Sweden while former Eagle Emily Fisher has played Australia. Abigail Fogg, who ended her college career at South Dakota, has performed in Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and New Zealand.

The current AU women’s roster includes players from Spain, Ireland and Italy.

Editor's note: Virginia native David Driver lived three years in Hungary, now lives in Poland and is the author of "Hoop Dreams in Europe: American Basketball Players Building Careers Overseas," available on Amazon and at daytondavid.com. He is the former sports editor of papers in Baltimore and Virginia, is a member of the United States Basketball Writers Association and has covered the Patriot League for several years from his home in Maryland. Driver, who covered the first basketball games at Bender Arena, has interviewed American men and women players in nearly 20 countries.