YU Basketball Star Ryan Turell Enters NBA Draft, Hoping to Become the League’s First Orthodox Player
Yeshiva University basketball star Ryan Turell wants to be the first Orthodox Jewish player in the National Basketball Association, and he has taken the first step toward that goal: entering the NBA draft.
The 22-year-old Los Angeles native will forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2022 draft this summer, ESPN reported.
“Being the first Orthodox Jew in the NBA would mean the world to me, and a dream come true, God willing,” Turell told ESPN. “But, just as importantly, it would mean the world to others that never saw this as a possibility.”
The 6-foot-7 guard wears a yarmulke when he plays, and said he plans to continue doing so when he plays professionally.
Turell was the leading scorer in the NCAA across all divisions this season, averaging 27.1 points per game. He shot 59% overall, and an impressive 47% from three-point range.
That earned Turell his second consecutive Skyline Conference Player of the Year award and helped him lead the YU Maccabees to a 25-4 record, a second straight conference championship and a No. 1 national DIII ranking.
Yeshiva also extended a multi-year winning streak to 50 games, garnering national attention along the way, including from NBA teams.
“I know NBA teams came to see me,” Turell said. “My coach would tell me after each game, especially toward the end of the season. Quite a few NBA teams came to watch.”
The team was eliminated in the first round of the Division III NCAA tournament earlier this month.
Turell’s chances in the draft are unclear. A total of 60 players are selected in two rounds — considerably fewer than in other professional sports leagues. ESPN projects that he will not be drafted.
“My full intention is to play professional basketball next year,” Turell said.
The NBA draft will be held June 23 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn,
New York.
— Jacob Gurvis
For $500, This Zabar’s Sweater Can Be Yours
Bagel and bag lovers rejoice! The Zabar’s x Coach collaboration has arrived and it’s the ultimate mashup of nosh meets posh.
As part of their Spring/Summer 2022 line, luxury fashion brand Coach is drawing inspiration from the iconic Upper West Side gourmet grocery. Specifically, Coach has placed the iconic orange Zabar’s logo — accompanied by an image of a bagel with a bite taken out of it — on their classic brown leather Cashin Carry Bag, as well as a gray wool sweater. The bag retails for $550, while the sweater is priced at $495.
Yes, that’s a pretty penny. Then again, considering that Zabar’s Bagels and Nova Brunch Box — featuring a dozen bagels, a pound of fish, cream cheese, coffee and rugelach — retails for $229, paying approximately twice that for something that you can one day pass on to your grandchildren doesn’t seem that absurd. (Plus, if your taste or budget is a bit more modest, there’s also a Zabar’s x Coach T-shirt for $150.)
The pieces are designed by Coach New York’s creative director, Stuart Vevers. The collection is an ode to New York and the colorful, upbeat designs of Coach’s first designer, Bonnie Cashin, who created handbags for Coach from 1962 to 1974.
Dubbed a “love letter to New York,” the collection is meant as a tribute to the city’s tenacity and ability to inspire. (The brand’s Spring 2021 collection also featured New York-inspired apparel.) And the 2022 collection doesn’t only feature Zabar’s merch: There’s also a T-shirt with a “I survived a ride on the subway in New York City” graphic, another with a sketch of the Brooklyn Bridge and more.
Coach Inc. began as a family-run leather shop known on 34th Street in Manhattan. It was started by Miles Cahn, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, and his wife Lillian Cahn, neé Lenovitz, who immigrated from Hungary. They opened Gail Leather Products as a small leather goods workshop in 1941, and in 1961 they bought out the business’s other investors and renamed themselves the Coach Leatherware Company.
— Julia Gergely
