Willy Workman
Willy Workman (Hebrew: וילי וורקמן; born March 14, 1990) is an American-Israeli professional basketball player for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball at Amherst. Workman holds dual-American and Israeli citizenship.
Workman with Hapoel Tel Aviv, 2014 | |
Hapoel Holon | |
---|---|
Position | Small forward |
League | Israeli Premier League FIBA Champions League |
Personal information | |
Born | Northampton, Massachusetts | March 14, 1990
Nationality | American / Israeli |
Listed height | 198 cm (6 ft 6 in) |
Career information | |
High school | Deerfield Academy (Deerfield, Massachusetts) |
College | Amherst (2009–2013) |
NBA draft | 2013 / Undrafted |
Playing career | 2013–present |
Career history | |
2013–2014 | Hapoel Galil Elyon |
2014–2015 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
2015–2016 | Maccabi Ashdod |
2016–2020 | Maccabi Haifa |
2020–present | Hapoel Holon |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Early life
Workman is Jewish[1] and was born to a Jewish mother[2] in Northampton, Massachusetts. He attended Northampton High School before completing a postgraduate year at nearby Deerfield Academy, where he resumed playing basketball after enduring injuries earlier in his high school career.[2] Workman's father, Danny, is a longtime restaurateur.[3] His mother, Dina Fein, is a judge in Springfield, Massachusetts.[4]
College career
Workman attended Amherst College from 2009 to 2013, winning the NCAA3 Championship his senior year.[5] He averaged 10.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists for his four-year career at Amherst, earning D3hoops.com men's All-America Third Team,[6] ECAC Division III New England First Team[7] and NESCAC First Team honors in 2013.[8]
Professional career
During his first season of professional basketball in 2013-14, Workman played for Hapoel Galil Elyon[9] of the Israeli National League, the second-tier league in Israel, and was able to move to the country’s top-flight Premier League, when signing with Hapoel Tel Aviv for the 2014-15 season.[10]
He was signed by fellow Premier League side Maccabi Ashdod for 2015-16[11] and inked a contract with Maccabi Haifa prior to the 2016-17 Premier League campaign.[12] That season, Workman helped Haifa to reach the 2017 Israeli League Finals, where they eventually lost to Hapoel Jerusalem.
On February 28, 2018, Workman signed a three-year contract extension with Maccabi Haifa.[13] On March 2, 2018, Workman participated in the Israeli League All-Star Game as a replacement for Oz Blayzer.[14] That season, Despite Workman having his best year in the Israeli Premier League in terms of personal averages (6.7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game) - his team, Maccabi Haifa, had finished the season in the last place out of 12 teams and was relegated to the Israeli National League (the second-tier league in Israel).
In the 2018–19 season, Workman won the 2019 Israeli National League Championship title with Haifa, earning a promotion back to the Israeli Premier League. In the 2019-20 season, he averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. On August 5, 2020, Workman signed with Hapoel Holon.[15]
References
- "Israel is a slam-dunk for US basketball players; Israel is a land of opportunity...and sometimes romance...for Jewish-American basketball stars"
- "A New Journey Begins". Amherst College. 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- Lenker, George. "10 Northampton restaurants that have stood the test of time". masslive.com. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- Staff, Mass Lawyers Weekly (1 August 2001). "FEIN, DINA E." Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- "'Willy stuff' helps Amherst to Division III national title". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- "2013 D3hoops.com men's All-America team". D3hoops. 2013-03-28. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- "Greenway, Watson & Click Represent GNAC on ECAC Men's Basketball All-Star Team". GNAC. 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- "Men's Basketball All-NESCAC Selections Released - NESCAC". www.nescacstats.com. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- "A New Journey Begins". Amherst College. 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- "Hapoel Tel Aviv signs Willy Workman". Sportando. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- LTD, Art-Up. "Willy Workman". מנהלת ליגת העל בכדורסל. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- "Maccabi Haifa signs Willy Workman". Sportando. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
- "ווילי וורקמן יישאר ירוק עד 2021". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- "אולסטאר: הזרים גברו על הישראלים". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). March 2, 2018.
- "Hapoel Holon announces Willy Workman". Sportando. August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.