By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Drew Crawford inked a contract with AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan for the rest of the 2019-20 season, the Italian team announced on Saturday.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to play for Milan,” he said upon signing, “It’s a team with great history, reputation and fan support in one of the best cities in the world. I’m looking forward to coming to work hard and give everything I have to help the team.”
Last season was named LBA Serie A MVP. Moved from Vanoli Cremona to Gaziantep and stretching his impressive performances into his current campaign brought him back to Italy and into EuroLeague for the first time.
The Northwestern alum was averaging 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2 assists and 0.9 steals per Basketball Champions League appearance with the Turkish club. He also had 12.9 points per Super Ligi outing.
“We are entering the crucial and decisive part of the EuroLeague season and we made the decision to add a player to our rotation,” mentioned general manager Christos Stavropoulos commenting on the addition to Ettore Messina’s squad, “Crawford is a player with the right skills, as a person and as an athlete, that fit with what we want to do, while continuing to look for ways to improve our team.”
Crawford will remain ineligible for the Italian League, will only take part in Europe’s premier club competition. “Drew won’t be able to play in the Italian league, but he can help us to achieve our playoff goal” clarified Stavropoulos.