Yeshiva University's Ryan Turell, nation's leading college basketball scorer, to enter 2022 NBA draft, aims to be league's first Orthodox Jew player

Yeshiva University's Ryan Turell will forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2022 NBA draft, he told ESPN.

«My full intention is to play professional basketball next year,» Turell said.

Turell is the leading scorer in college basketball across all divisions, averaging 27.1 points while shooting 47% for 3. His team won the Skyline Conference championship, winning 50 consecutive games spanning from November of 2019 to December of 2021 and at one time being ranked No. 1 in the country in NCAA's Division III.

Turell is attempting to become the first Orthodox Jew to play in the NBA. He wears a yarmulke (a head covering Orthodox Jewish men wear) on the basketball court when he plays, and says he plans on continuing do so as a professional.

«Being the first Orthodox Jew in the NBA would mean the world to me, and a dream come true, God willing. But, just as importantly, it would mean the world to others that never saw this as a possibility.»

Turell is a two-time conference player of the year, and the leading scorer in Yeshiva history with over 2000 points, despite both his sophomore and junior seasons being shortened by COVID. Turell has been thoroughly scouted by NBA teams this season, with several owners, executives and former players attending games in Washington Heights to watch him in person.

«I know NBA teams came to see me,» Turell said. «My coach would tell me after each game, especially towards the end of the season. Quite a few NBA teams came to watch.»

Turell's ability to make shots in a variety of situations at 6-foot-7, be it running off screens, pulling up in transition, or spacing the floor from well beyond the NBA 3-point line, gives him a coveted niche he could potentially fill at the