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YU Basketball Star Ryan Turell Enters NBA Draft, Hoping to Become the
League’s First Orthodox Player
Y eshiva University basketball star Ryan Turell wants to be the fi rst Orthodox
Jewish player in the National Basketball Association, and he has taken the
fi rst step toward that goal: entering the NBA draft.

The 22-year-old Los Angeles native will forgo his fi nal year of college
eligibility and enter the 2022 draft this summer, ESPN reported.

“Being the fi rst Orthodox Jew in the NBA would mean the world to me,
and a dream come true, God willing,” Turell told ESPN. “But, just as impor-
tantly, it would mean the world to others that never saw this as a possibility.”
The 6-foot-7 guard wears a yarmulke when he plays, and said he plans to
continue doing so when he plays professionally.

Turell was the leading scorer in the NCAA across all divisions this season,
averaging 27.1 points per game. He shot 59% overall, and an impressive
47% from three-point range.

That earned Turell his second consecutive Skyline Conference Player of
the Year award and helped him lead the YU Maccabees to a 25-4 record, a
second straight conference championship and a No. 1 national DIII ranking.

Yeshiva also extended a multiyear winning streak to 50 games, garnering
national attention along the way, including from NBA teams.

“I know NBA teams came to see me,” Turell said. “My coach would tell me
after each game, especially toward the end of the season. Quite a few NBA
teams came to watch.”
The team was eliminated in the fi rst round of the Division III NCAA tour-
nament earlier this month.

Turell’s chances in the draft are unclear. A total of 60 players are selected
Ryan Turell in game action
in two rounds — considerably fewer than in other professional sports
leagues. ESPN projects that he will not be drafted.

“My full intention is to play professional basketball next year,” Turell said.

The NBA draft will be held June 23 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn,
New York.

— Jacob Gurvis
B agel and bag lovers rejoice! The
Zabar’s x Coach collaboration has
arrived and it’s the ultimate mashup of nosh
meets posh.

As part of their Spring/Summer 2022
line, luxury fashion brand Coach is draw-
ing inspiration from the iconic Upper West
Side gourmet grocery. Specifi cally, Coach
has placed the iconic orange Zabar’s logo
— accompanied by an image of a bagel
with a bite taken out of it — on their classic
brown leather Cashin Carry Bag, as well
as a gray wool sweater. The bag retails for
$550, while the sweater is priced at $495.

Yes, that’s a pretty penny. Then again,
considering that Zabar’s Bagels and Nova
Brunch Box — featuring a dozen bagels,
a pound of fi sh, cream cheese, coff ee
and rugelach — retails for $229, paying
approximately twice that for something
that you can one day pass on to your
grandchildren doesn’t seem that absurd.

(Plus, if your taste or budget is a bit more
modest, there’s also a Zabar’s x Coach
T-shirt for $150.)
The pieces are designed by Coach New
York’s creative director, Stuart Vevers.

4 MARCH 24, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
The grey sweater pays tribute to the Upper West Side food
emporium and retails for $495.

The collection is an ode to New York and
the colorful, upbeat designs of Coach’s
fi rst designer, Bonnie Cashin, who cre-
ated handbags for Coach from 1962 to
1974. Dubbed a “love letter to New York,”
the collection is meant as a tribute to
the city’s tenacity and ability to inspire.

(The brand’s Spring 2021 collection also
featured New York-inspired apparel.) And
the 2022 collection doesn’t only feature
Zabar’s merch: There’s also a T-shirt with
a “I survived a ride on the subway in New
York City” graphic, another with a sketch
of the Brooklyn Bridge and more.

Coach Inc. began as a family-run leather
shop known on 34th Street in Manhattan.

It was started by Miles Cahn, the son
of Russian-Jewish immigrants, and his
wife Lillian Cahn, neé Lenovitz, who
immigrated from Hungary. They opened
Gail Leather Products as a small leather
goods workshop in 1941, and in 1961 they
bought out the business’s other inves-
tors and renamed themselves the Coach
Leatherware Company.

— Julia Gergely
Turell: Courtesy of Yeshiva University via JTA; Sweater: Coach via JTA
For $500, This Zabar’s Sweater Can Be Yours