David Craig, the 7-foot-2 center who captured South African hearts in his debut Basketball Africa League (BAL) season with Made By Ball (MBB) has joined German third-tier club TSV Neustadt.
Craig, who played NCAA Division I for Tennessee Tech, opted not to return to college after his first experience playing in a professional team. He played for a team coached by Sam Vincent -- the former Charlotte Bobcats head coach and Dallas Mavericks assistant coach who won the 1986 NBA Championship as a player for Boston Celtics.
"I signed to MBB for the BAL under a college exception contract, which meant I wasn't going to get paid [and I would] maintain my eligibility. It was a way to gain exposure just to have all my options open at the end of the BAL," Craig told ESPN.
"Going to the BAL was an eye-opening experience. It showed me that I can't go back to playing college ball when I've just had this professional experience. I just knew that I needed more. I needed to put myself in the best position for my career, and I knew that in order to do that I had to take the risk of searching for a professional team.
"After the BAL concluded, I had a conversation with my agent and he got to work on things. Neustadt was the team that really suited me, and that's how we arrived here."
Born in Johannesburg, Craig played rugby, cricket, tennis and squash in his childhood, picking up basketball at 12 years. Rugby is one of South Africa's biggest sports, but Craig's enjoyment of the game was affected after a growth spurt -- as he was moved from the back row of the scrum to lock.
Basketball became a more significant part of his life, and he left South Africa at the end of ninth grade to pursue the sport in the United States.
After attending McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Craig began his college career at Mercer before transferring to Tennessee Tech in 2023, one year into the journey.
During the BAL, Craig was inspired by the belief that Vincent had shown in him -- giving him a more central role in the team than he had been given throughout his college career. Vincent was full of praise for Craig during the tournament.
"I'm really excited with David Craig -- very excited," Vincent said after the South African had produced his best game with 9 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in a shock 94-88 win over Nile Conference hosts Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) in Kigali.
"One thing you can't just give a player is 7-foot-2 in height. He's a big kid and he's very eager to get better at basketball; he's very motivated.
"Today, he really helped us with the offensive boards. We've been really hurt in that area, but today, he boxed out and he scored."
Craig, who will turn 22 later this month, averaged 4.8 points and 3.8 rebounds in just under 14 minutes per game in the BAL.
MBB missed out on second place in the conference to APR, and did not play in June's playoffs in Pretoria.
Having had limited time to prepare as a unit before the tournament, MBB still showed they had talented players. Head coach Vincent joined APR as a defensive coach on a temporary basis for the playoffs, with the Rwandan team finishing third as another Nile Conference team -- Libya's Al Ahli Tripoli -- won the tournament..
South African basketball's shortcomings were exposed in the tournament, but the country nevertheless could boast major wins apart from hosting the successful playoffs.
Samkelo Cele became the first South African to play in a BAL final, albeit on the losing side for Petro de Luanda.
And Craig, little known as a player before the tournament, now has a contract to gain experience in Europe at an age when it is reasonable to believe the best is yet to come.