Maccabi Rishon's coach, Effi Birnbaum, followed Clemente's career closely while he was at K-State, where he averaged more than 15 points per game during his two-year career. Because of that, there was a familiarity between the two.
"The coach and the team knows (Clemente) very, very well," Alvarez said. "They know of him so well they're basically giving him the ball to run the team.
"This will be a real good situation for him. This is Europe Division One-type of stuff and in Israel they play good basketball. He's going to come in and play right away. Israel's style of basketball is second to none — the league is very competitive - a lot of fast breaks when you compare it to other countries where it's more half-court things."
Clemente, who went unpicked in the NBA draft this past June, signed a free agent deal with the Charlotte Bobcats, where he joined former Kansas guard Sherron Collins in early July. But after spending five days playing games in the Bobcats' summer league, where he averaged 1.3 points and 0.5 assists in seven minutes per game, Clemente decided it was best to head overseas, giving himself an opportunity to prove his game at the professional level.
Ultimately, Alvarez said the goal is for Clemente to get to the NBA.
But as for now, this will do.
"This is a real nice contract overseas," Alvarez said. "He'll play a lot, prove he can do it at that level and then go from there.
"He's happy, he's content."
