Forward Egor Koulechov, who came to UF from Rice via the graduate transfer route last summer, finished second on the Gators in scoring (13.8 points per game) and first in rebounding (6.8) in his only season at UF.
Koulechov's Next Uniform May Not Be the Basketball Kind
Thursday, June 21, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Forward Egor Koulechov still owes Israel a couple years of military duty.
But undersized, out-of-position and overachieving power forwards are long shots for the next level.
"Let's just see what happens," Koulechov said.
Players with a resume like Koulechov's who go undrafted usually have options. The best and most lucrative of those options are overseas. And since Koulechov was born in Russia and moved to Israel at the age of five — and became a citizen of that country — the international path would seem like a natural.
"But it's complicated," said Doug Newstart, Koulechov's agent.
Yes, it is.
As an Israeli citizen, Koulechov is required to serve two years and eight months in the country's military. His situation is no different than any other male from that country (women are required to do two years of military service, as well). Koulechov has already put in two months of basic training — even learned to shoot an M-16 — and received further credit toward his service while playing for the Israeli men's basketball team in international competitions.
More time with the national team could be an option, but the ball eventually will be in Israel's court. The balance of the service Koulechov owes is going to come due.
"This is something he has to do by law," Newstadt said. "We're trying to find some creative ways to go about this, but we'll cooperate with the military and do whatever they ultimately decide."
The perfect solution would be for Koulechov to be drafted by an NBA team, and therefore be eligible for a working visa. That's unlikely. Signing a free-agent, two-way contract with the G-League would be another positive development — every NBA team gets two two-way roster spots — but a straight G-League deal would not be worth it for him financially.
In time, Koulechov can make some very good money overseas, but probably not before his military obligations are met. And they will be met. Koulechov, in fact, heard of an Israeli national who skipped out on his duty and returned to the country more than 20 years later, only to be arrested.
"It remains to be seen how that's going to be handled or settled," Koulechov said. "Ideally, hopefully, if I don't play somewhere here, I can go overseas and find a place I can play. Whether that's Israel or somewhere in Europe, I don't know. But there's that fear I won't be able to sign over in Europe just because I might have to go and do the mandatory service, if there's no solution for me to make it up another way."
Israel is roughly the size of New Jersey, which is America's fifth-smallest state. In terms of land mass, 473 Israels could fit inside the United States. It's not a big country, obviously, yet it's smack in the middle of a very volatile part of the world. Koulechov recalls being back home over the years and hearing the rockets of war blasting in the distance. Alarms would go off in their home town and residents would head for their shelters.
The notion of potentially being a lot closer to the action is not lost on him.
"I'm sure there's a chance, but you just hope it doesn't come to that," Koulechov said. "A lot of things are going on over there. So, like I said, we'll just have to see what happens."
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