Ever wonder what happened to the basketball careers of former Cougar Mekeli Wesley, former Thunderbird Fred House, former Ute Alex Jensen, ex-Aggie Justin Jones or ex-Wildcat Ruben Nembhard?
Well, they're among 25 products of the state's five universities that the Deseret Morning News was able to find playing on overseas pro teams in 2004.
Wesley, the 2001 Brigham Young University product, has played 19 games for Eurolines Vilvoorde in Belgium, recently had a 39-point game and averages 19.5 points and 6.4 rebounds for a team that has three times this season played against Euphony Liege, for whom former Utah State 7-footer Dimitri Jorssen is playing.
Jorssen, who is Belgian and graduated from USU in 2001, has played in 18 games this season and is averaging 4.9 points and 3.6 rebounds.
Jones, the 1998 USU graduate and Aggie career 3-point percentage record-holder at .449 success, is not only playing for the Dornbirn Lions in Austria — he's the coach, too. In fact, he's been a player-coach there since 1999 after playing one season in the Netherlands coming out of college.
Nembhard, a 1995 Weber State product who's played for the CBA's Idaho Stampede and was Venezuelan League MVP in 2003, is now with the Townsville Crocodiles in Australia. He's scored 149 points through 11 games and has 61 rebounds and 46 assists for a team sponsored by McDonald's — with the Golden Arches as part of its NBL logo.
Another 2001 product of the state, SUU's House, who went to the Atlanta Hawks 2002 training camp after leading the T-Birds to the 2001 NCAA Tournament, is alive and well playing in Serbia and Montenegro, where he's played 13 games and averaged 15.4 points, six boards and 3.3 steals for Partizan Beograd.
And Utah's Jensen, who started for the 1998 club that went to the NCAA championship game, is getting 7.9 rebounds a game playing for Tuborg Izmir in Turkey after toiling with Yakima of the CBA last year. He scored nine points in his latest game as Tuborg beat Aras ITU 95-87.
In some cases, information is hard to find, but here's a quick look at the players we've found, by school:
BRIGHAM YOUNG
Terrell Lyday, playing for Cholet Basket, a 10th-place team in France's Pro A league, gets 13 points, 3.7 rebounds in 19 games.
Mekeli Wesley is with Eurolines Vilvoorde in Belgium and has played 19 games, averaging 19.5 points, 6.42 rebounds.
Trent Whiting started all 23 games and is the leading scorer for the Italian team Sicc BPA Jesi, averaging 17.6 points and 2.7 rebounds.
SOUTHERN UTAH
Kenyatta Clyde is playing for MOSiR Bobry Zabrze in the Poland II league.
Fred House played in the USBL (Adirondack) last year but is in Serbia and Montenegro for Partizan Beograd this season. In 13 games, he has 15.4 points, six rebounds, 3.3 steals a game.
Davor Marcelic is back with the Croatian club with which he grew up, 2003 Adriatic League champion Kosarkasi Klub Zadar, after a season with Lyon, the French runner-up. Zadar is in fourth place now.
Forward Sean McCaw signed in October with the Leicester City Riders in the British Basketball League and is the team captain averaging 14.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 34.5 minutes a game.
Center Brian McKee is playing in Japan with the Toyota Tsusho Fighting Eagles.
UTAH
Centerville's Alex Jensen is playing in Turkey for Tuborg Izmir, getting 7.9 rebounds a game.
Plain City's Cameron Koford is averaging 5.7 points and .8 rebounds playing for Lusitania dos Acores in Portugal.
Australian post player Ben Melmeth is leading the New Zealand Breakers of the NBL with 14.2 points and 8.4 rebounds.
Hanno Mottola is playing with former Jazzman Ike Austin for Skipper Fortitude Bologna in Italy, scoring 11.3 points and grabbing four rebounds through 22 games.
Byron Wilson, still playing 11 years after leaving the U., is scoring 15.8 points and getting 3.4 rebounds for the Boca Juniors Capital Feder team in Argentina.
UTAH STATE
Covington "Cupp" Cormier is playing in Norway with the Baerums Verk Jets and is coming off an 18-point outing for an 11-3 team that's leading Norwegian league.
Curtis Bobb is in the Czech Republic playing for Mlekarna Kunin Novi Jicin, averaging 31.4 minutes, 22.4 points and 6.2 rebounds.
Justin Jones, looking much the same as when he played for the Aggies, is scoring the way he did for them, too. He's had 22, 16, 15 and 24 points his last four games.
Center Dimitri Jorssen has played 18 games for Euphony Liege in his native Belgium. His averages are 4.94 points, 3.55 rebounds.
Much-traveled Silas Mills, who was the leading scorer in the CBA earlier this season and then released by Sioux Falls, is now in China playing for the Shanshi Donghsen Kylins.
Kevin Rice is playing for Darussafaka Istanbul in Turkey, scoring 12.8 points after a recent 22-point outing for a sixth-place team. He also gets 4.7 rebounds.
Guard Ronnie Ross is playing for Vëllaznimi Gjakovë (7-8) in Kosovo in the Yugoslavian Federation.
WEBER STATE
Stefan Bachmann is scoring 12 points and getting five rebounds for Lausanne Morges Basket in Switzerland.
Farmington guard Brad Barton is fourth in his league in assists with 5.6 a game for BBC Nyon in Switzerland. The rookie is scoring seven points and getting 4.5 rebounds.
Jermaine Boyette, who went to Jazz training camp and then signed to play for Prokom Trefl Sopot in Poland in late December, was released by that club a month later. He played six games, scoring 6.3 points and getting 14.7 minutes a game.
Ivan Gatto has played 23 games for Edimes Pavia in the Italian 2 League, getting 7.3 points and 5.6 rebounds.
Lewis Lofton played four games and scored 10.5 points with 3.8 rebounds for Gipsar Stal Ostrow in Poland.
Ruben Nembhard has played 11 games at the point for the Townsville Crocodiles in New Zealand, scoring 149 points with 46 assists.
E-mail: lham@desnews.com