Givova Scafati is proud to announce the signature of Elijah Stewart196 cm small forward, top scorer in the last Israeli Serie A. A small forward with enormous talent and physicality, Elijah is the perfect “fit” for Marcelo Nicola’s chessboard: versatile athlete, high-level defender, excellent 3-point shot as well as an exceptional ability to read the game and attack in 1vs1 that completes the yellow-blue external department. Stewart was born in 1995 in DeRidder, Louisiana and took his first, real, steps in the world of basketball at Westchester High School. In 2014 he chose the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he played for the next 4 seasons (NCAA) with the USC Trojans jersey, recording over 10 points per game in 138 games played (83 won and 55 lost). Not chosen in the 2018 NBA Draft, in the same year he found himself playing for three different teams in the G-League (Indiana Mad Ants, Wisconsin Herd and Stockton Kings) before arriving in Europe. In the summer of 2019 he landed in Helsinki, with the Seagulls he won the Finnish Cup and closed the year with 18 points, 5 rebounds and 1.5 assists on average. After a more than positive interlude in Poland at Śląsk Wrocław, he further improved his numbers and percentages in Romania (always over 15 points on average and 40% from the arc of 6.75), where thanks to a record of 33 wins and only 2 losses between the Regular Season and the Playoffs he won the Scudetto with Cluj Napoca. In the same season he played in the Basketball Champions League and for the first time on a stage of such importance he was awarded in the “Second Best Team” of the entire tournament. His first time in Italy saw him as the protagonist just under 30 kilometers from the Beta Ricambi Arena – PalaMangano, wearing the blue jersey of Ge.Vi. Napoli. At the foot of Vesuvius he experienced moments of ups and downs, but in the final part of the season (4 wins in the last 6) he took the stage and led the Neapolitans to safety with an average of 17.2 points in the final month of the 2022/23 LBA. He spent his last season in Israel at Hapoel Eliat, which made Elijah its guiding light: on 17 occasions (in 29 official games) he scored over 20 points and became the top scorer (20.6 average) of the “Israeli Basketball Premier League” despite closing a championship with more than 2 assists per shoe lace for the first time in his career. Statement from head coach Marcelo Nicola: “We are thrilled to announce the signing of a player of the caliber of Elijah Stewart, a small forward with an important past in Europe and Italy. We are talking about a profile that we have been following closely since the beginning of the market and that will perfectly complete our external department. We are adding another element capable of being decisive in the key moments of the match, Elijah will be one of our main firepower”.
Athlete Elijah Stewart’s statement: “After a year I am excited to return to Southern Italy and embark on this exciting journey with my new club. As a man of the people, I can’t wait to meet the fans and join the exciting community of Scafati, a city I have heard so much about. The team is fantastic and promises to entertain both the fans and us players ourselves. The combination of experience and talent is truly impressive. I am very optimistic about the upcoming season and hope that my excitement mixed with desire to do well can be an example to follow for everyone.”
