Former Georgia Southern forward Montae Glenn has not had the stereotypical post-grad life. He has begun his professional basketball career overseas in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, after leaving a dent in the GS basketball stat books. 

After graduation, he stayed in Statesboro and put his computer science degree to use while completing an eight-week internship with TechSavvy. Glenn has always remained focused, on and off the court, and he wanted to make sure that he takes advantage of his education. Though his collegiate basketball career came to a close when the team was eliminated from the Sun Belt Tournament in March, he continued to keep himself in tip-top shape.

At the beginning of September, Glenn reported to training camp in Estonia to begin his professional career. His contract will last six to eight months before he figures out what his next steps will be. 

“My ultimate goal is to just go as far as the game will take me,” he said. “I’m just learning and I am learning a lot from this experience like how clubs operate & coaches of clubs. I am also learning different schemes of offense [and] defense that I am quite new to.”

The 6-foot-8 athlete has had to adjust to playing overseas, specifically because the playing style is a lot rougher. Coming from the NCAA where fouls are given out with ease, he has more freedom now to play the way he feels will make the team successful. 

Glenn has been named a starter for the Utilitas Rapla KK team and he is the only American on the roster, with the rest of his teammates being Estonian. Though there is an obvious language barrier, everyone around him speaks English as their second language. 

On the court, they all speak the language of basketball, as there is great chemistry in the locker room. In the season opening victory, he scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

“I felt good about my performance,” he said. “I just have to keep working day-by-day and not become complacent.”

During his time at GS, Glenn finished as the best rebounder in school history and shot 62 percent from the field, which is the second-highest percentage in GS history. 

“Montae Glenn was a four year starter,” GS Head Coach Mark Byington said. “Montae put himself in an unbelievable position to where he turned down some major business world jobs that most college kids would kill to have the opportunity [for]. Next thing you know, this…came and he lands himself in a really good pro opportunity.”

Rapla KK has a newly built arena, completed in 2010, and the team finished 21-17 last season. This will be the first season under New Head Coach Toomas Annuk.

Amanda Arnold, The George-Anne Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu