John DiBartolomeo: From a DIII School to Playing for Maccabi “Fox” Tel-Aviv In The Euroleague
- Shai Boker
- 15 באפר׳ 2018
- זמן קריאה 4 דקות
Tel-Aviv, Israel – You typically don’t hear of many success stories of Division III basketball players making it to the pros, never mind the Euroleague, which is arguably the best league in Europe with teams from Spain, Turkey, Greece, Lithuania, and even Israel.
That team from Israel is Maccabi “Fox” Tel-Aviv, which is perhaps the most decorated basketball franchise in the world with well over 100 championships, including six Euroleague titles. Current Maccabi “Fox” Tel-Aviv captain, John DiBartolomeo, has one of those unique stories.
DiBartolomeo grew up in Connecticut and started playing sports at a very young age, but there was one sport that in particular was his favorite: basketball.
“I played basketball for as long as I can remember once I was old enough to play sports. I tried everything, [but] basketball was always my favorite I think growing up.” However, it wasn’t until John got to high school that he decided to focus on it.
There are a lot of high school basketball players who are offered scholarships, but John wasn’t one of them. Besides, he only had an interest in DIII schools, in particular the University of Rochester in upstate New York.
“Rochester was the best balance of what I was looking for.” He continued, “I only had DIII interest and Rochester was a very good DIII basketball team. It’s an amazing university for academics, so I didn’t have a tough decision.”
John would have a great career at the U of R , ranking in the top three in points (1,779, 3rd all-time), assists (533, 2nd all-time), and steals (201, 2nd all-time). “I was lucky. It means I was able to play a lot of games. I was lucky to go through my college career, playing all four years, starting the majority of the games. And I had a lot of opportunity, a lot of good teammates, and great coaches--they helped me put up those numbers.”
John talked about the moment he thought he could go pro. “I didn’t think about it until one of my last years in college. I got a letter from a potential team, it was in the third division in Germany that said they thought they had a spot for me. I was ecstatic, I was shocked. And that’s when I started giving it a real shot.”
Every player has doubters, but they never bothered him.
“I have an amazing support system. My family, my friends, my coaches, people I’ve met, along the way,” DiBartolomeo said. “So I was comforted [by] an extremely amazing supporting cast that every time I doubted myself, helped me regain confidence.”
After graduating from the U of R in 2013, DiBartolomeo signed with Zaragoza (a 3-year-deal) of the ACB league before being loaned to Palma, his first time playing in the pros.
“They kind of just owned my rights, it was a 3-year-deal and they loaned me out.” He continued, “Honestly, I didn’t know much about overseas basketball. My agent recommended it and I didn’t see the downside. Getting my name attached to a Division I team in the ACB seemed like it could only be good for me.”
After his second season with Palma, DiBartolomeo’s rights were bought out and he signed with Maccabi Haifa. When asked what made him choose Maccabi Haifa, he said he was invited for a tryout and that they chose him.
“They more chose me. They brought me out here for a tryout in the summer (2015) and I really liked the city. I really liked the country. They made me an offer a few weeks later, and I didn’t see any reason not to go. I wanted to make that jump to a first division league.”
Later on, in his first season with Maccabi Haifa, he scored 22 points in a 91-56 home win over Maccabi “Fox” Tel Aviv, handing the Yellows one of their worst defeats ever. “At the time when I was with Haifa, I remember it being a fun game for us.” He continued, “It’s always a great challenge to play [in this league] --there are great teams ...and it’s never really hard to get fired up and intense when you play against those teams. Everything went our way that day.”
The next season, DiBartolomeo won the Israeli League MVP award with Maccabi Haifa.
“I think, along with everybody else, I was pretty shocked about being named MVP. I think I was very lucky and fortunate. We played great towards the end of the season, made history going to the Final Four as an 8th seed and then obviously making the finals. Things were clicking on all cylinders for us, and I think that’s why they wanted to recognize the great story that Maccabi Haifa was in the playoffs…. I was just fortunate enough that they put the name on me.” Haifa would fall to Hapoel Jerusalem in the finals, 83-76.
In the offseason, once his contract with Maccabi Haifa ended, John signed a 3-year-deal with Maccabi Tel-Aviv. “When I set out to play, my goal was to play at the highest level I possibly could, and the Euroleague is one of the best leagues in the world…It’s what I’ve been working towards and what I wanted to do. So, no team that I was talking to really had the same thing to offer [that] Maccabi Tel-Aviv did.”
DiBartolomeo hopes to help Maccabi capture its first Israeli League title since 2014.
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