William Keith "Bud" Eley (born January 14, 1975) is an American former professional

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player. He played

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for the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks and was selected as the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Player of the Year as a senior in 1999. Eley played professionally in Turkey, Spain, Italy and Iran.

Early life

Eley was raised in

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primarily by relatives and in foster homes. He did not start playing organized basketball until his junior year at Martin Luther King High School. Eley averaged 18 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks per game as a senior. On April 22, 1994, he signed to play basketball at

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (Southeast or SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing t ...

College career

Eley sat out for his first season at Southeast Missouri due to not achieving Proposition 48 requirements. He averaged 17.3 points as a freshman during the 1995–96 season; he was selected as the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

(OVC) Newcomer of the Year and named to the All-OVC second-team. Eley led the Redhawks in points (17.9), rebounds (10.3) and blocks (1.3) as a sophomore. Entering his junior year as a potential first-round candidate in the upcoming

1998 NBA draft The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around four struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Boston Celtics, and the Tor ...

, he missed most of the 1997–98 season after he broke bones in both of his feet. Eley declared as an early entrant for the 1998 NBA draft but withdrew. He was granted an extra year of collegiate eligibility by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) in August 1998. During his senior season in 1998–99, Eley led the Redhawks in points (15.3), rebounds (10.7), blocks (2.6) and field goal percentage (59.4%); the latter three were also the highest in the OVC. He was selected as the OVC Player of the Year in 1999. Eley concluded his Redhawks career with program records in total rebounds (955) and blocks (178); his 1,611 points were fourth-best. He was also the only player in school history to record over 1,600 points and 900 rebounds. Eley was inducted into the Southeast Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.

Professional career

Eley was not selected in the

1999 NBA draft The 1999–2000 NBA season, 1999 NBA draft was held on June 30, 1999, at the MCI Center (now Capital One Arena) in Washington, D.C. It was the first draft in which four players from the same college were picked in the first round, with Elton Bran ...

. He started his professional career in Turkey. Eley was selected by the Detroit Dogs of the

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in the 2000 veteran player draft. Eley led the

Türkiye Basketbol Ligi The Turkish Basketball First League (; TBL), is Turkish basketball league system, the second-tier level league of professional club basketball in Turkey. The league was previously known as Turkish Basketball Second League (TB2L). Format and pro ...

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during the 2000–01 season with 23.9 points per game. He returned from Turkey in March 2001 to join the Dogs. Eley attended training camp with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

in 2002. Eley spent the 2002–03 season with Auna Gran Canaria in Spain. He averaged 15.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Eley played with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

during the 2003 NBA Summer League. Eley played with Scavolini Pesaro of Italy in the 2003–04 season, averaging 8.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. On July 12, 2004, he signed with

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in Spain on a two-year deal. He averaged 9 points and 5 rebounds per game during the 2004–05 season. Eley suffered an injury in April 2005 and was released by the team. Eley signed with Llanera Menorca for the 2005–06 season. He joined Grupo Capitol Valladolid in 2006 and then re-signed with them in 2007. On July 16, 2008, Eley returned to Llanera Menorca (now ViveMenorca) for the 2008–09 season. On March 4, 2009, he was released by ViveMenorca after the team lost 10 consecutive games. Eley spent the 2009–10 season with Mahram Tehran until he was ruled out with an injury. On August 23, 2010, he signed with Melilla Baloncesto in Italy.

References

External links

College statistics

Proballers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eley, Bud 1975 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Iran American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Detroit Beşiktaş men's basketball players CB Gran Canaria players CB Valladolid players Centers (basketball) Fenerbahçe men's basketball players Fundación CB Granada players Mahram Tehran BC players Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School alumni Menorca Bàsquet players Southeast Missouri State Redhawks men's basketball players Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro players