Auburn basketball: Former Auburn standout to return to Europe

Auburn basketball alumnus Kenny Gabriel is going back to Europe

Since graduating in 2012, former Auburn basketball star Kenny Gabriel has played in several professional leagues across the world in an attempt to chase his NBA dream.

After spending last season with the College Park Skyhawks of the NBA G-League, Gabriel has agreed to play next season with Montenegrin club KK Mornar Bar of the Adriatic League, the team announced on

https://twitter.com/MornarBar/status/1284437086800617473

Newer Auburn basketball fans may not familiar with Gabriel. After all, the 6-foot-8 forward hasn’t played for the Tigers in nearly a decade and was a part of the dreaded Tony Barbee era.

However, Gabriel was arguably Auburn’s best player during his tenure with the Tigers. In his senior season, the Charlotte, North Carolina native averaged 12.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks which were behind just Kentucky phenom Anthony Davis in the SEC that season.

After Auburn, Gabriel signed with Maccabi Ashdod of the Israeli League. Gabriel would then play the next few seasons in different leagues across the world including in Cyprus, Greece, New Zealand and Turkey.

Gabriel earned All-Star honors in the Turkish League back in 2016. This caught the attention of the Cleveland Cavaliers who offered the former Tiger an invite to their training camp. However, Gabriel elected to return to Europe and earn guaranteed money from Russian club Lokomotiv Kuban.

Gabriel continued to excel in various European leagues until 2019 when he joined the Skyhawks. An affiliate of the Atlanta Hawks, Gabriel was once again so close to the NBA. This past season, Gabriel averaged 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds primarily coming off the bench.

A return to Europe will likely offer Gabriel a better chance at significant playing time and possibly more money.

As for his new team, KK Mornar Bar made it to the EuroCup in 2018-19 and won their first-ever Montenegrin League championship the year prior.