The 36-year-old Raley-Ross is a playmaker who needs no introduction to basketball fans here. If there was a hall of fame in the Estonian league, one would expect this 191cm tall defender to be one of the first to receive a plaque named after him there.
Raley-Ross got to know the Estonian championship already in 2011, when he joined Tallinna Kalev at the University of South Carolina. However, Raley-Ross’ star really shone in Rakvere Tarva, where he was able to prove himself with Andres Sõbra for a total of three seasons (2012/13, 2014/15 and 2016). In his second season in Rakvere, however, he was the goal king of the Estonian championship (22.11 points on average) and subsequently also of the Estonian-Latvian championship (20.95 points on average), representing Tallinna Kalev / TLÜ.
Over the course of her colorful career, Raley-Ross played in the NBA Women’s League, leagues in Greece, Lithuania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Hong Kong, as well as leagues in the Adriatic and Balkans. For some reason, however, she has managed to return to Maarjamaa again and again, and the contract signed with Kalev/Snabb this autumn is already her seventh consecutive one in Estonia.
At Kalev/Snabb, Raley-Ross has yet to set a winning record this year, averaging 12.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 23.4 minutes. Unfortunately, the games played with Pärnu Sadama and Riga Zeļļi, where Raley-Ross scored only three points in total, leave their mark in the statistics. On the other hand, he scored 26 and 24 points against Ogre and Keila Coolbet respectively.
In an interview with Delphi, Raley-Ross explained the reasons for Kalev/Snabb’s losing streak and explained the rising level of basketball here. Furthermore, he talked about his important role in Estonian basketball and his big NBA dream.
How did it happen that you are already playing in Estonia for the seventh time?
Last season I was in Hong Kong, but since the calendar is different there the matches were already played in January. Since then I was available and initially thought about returning to Asia. Unfortunately I was told that the start of the season would be delayed and since I didn’t want to wait that long, I contacted Kalle (head coach of Kalev/Snabb Kalle Klandorf – RV) and that was it.
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2024-01-12 03:00:00
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