Darrun Hilliard signs with Russia’s top pro basketball team

(C)mcal

Darrun Hilliard, the former basketball star at Liberty High and Villanova, has signed his second European contract. Hilliard will join CSKA Moscow, the most dominant team in Russian basketball and the 2019 EuroLeague champ.

CSKA Moscow signed Hilliard to a one-year contract, according to a news release. Hilliard played last season with Baskonia of Liga ACB, Spain’s top level for professional basketball. He averaged 9.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 34 games with Baskonia.

“From the first moment we contacted him, Darrun was very thrilled and enthusiastic about the opportunity to play for CSKA,” Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA Moscow’s head coach, said in a news release. “In his first year in Europe, he showed that he is a good creator, executor, defender, a team player. Now I don’t need to say much. The rest should be proven on the court. We are happy to have him on the team.”

With CSKA Moscow, Hilliard is joining Russia’s most successful franchise. The team has won 25 consecutive Russian championships and four EuroLeague titles, including two in the past four years.

"When the opportunity to play for one of the most prestigious clubs in the history of Europe was presented to me, I felt like this was just too good of an opportunity for me to pass up,” Hilliard said in a team statement. “It’s an honor to play for Coach Itoudis, and I can’t wait to get to Moscow to experience the incredible tradition of CSKA basketball. My only agenda coming in is to help CSKA win games and win more titles. I will give my heart and soul in every practice and game to do what I can to contribute to that winning.”

Hilliard, 26, played in Spain last season after spending three NBA seasons with Detroit and San Antonio. Before leaving for Europe in 2018, he helped lead Austin to the NBA G League title. Austin is the Spurs’ affiliate in the NBA’s minor-league organization.

“You’ve got to love the game,” Hilliard said during a 2018 visit to the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem. “If you don’t truly love the game, it’s going to eat you up. Some things are going to be thrown at you, some things are going to happen. You’re going to bounce around the league, you’re not going to play, and this and that. But you must stay true to the game.”