PITTSBURGH - Baylee Steele, who saw action in all 30 games as a graduate transfer for the Dukes last season, has signed a contract to play professionally for PGE Spojnia Stargard of the Polish Basketball League (PLK) - the highest level of Polish basketball.

Steele, who averaged 21.4 minutes per game, played in integral role in Duquesne's 21-9 season. The 6-11 forward, who came off the bench to score in double digits 12 times, finished the year averaging 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The multi-dimensional big man added 33 3-pointers, which ranked fourth on the team.

A native of Norwalk, Iowa, Steele began his career at Des Moines Area Community College, before going on to play 98 career Division I games with 58 starts (33 games and 22 starts at Eastern Michigan, 35 games and 35 starts at Utah Valley and 30 games with a Senior Day start at Duquesne).

He finished his college career with 708 career points (7.2 ppg.) and 527 career rebounds (5.4 rpg.), while shooting .516 from the field and .732 from the foul line (145-of-198).

Steele, who entered his one season at Duquesne 2-of-11 from 3-point in 68 college games. Went 33-of-96 from the arc (.344) for the Dukes in 2019-20.

"I'm blessed to be able to continue to do what I love," said Steele. "I'm ready for this next step in my basketball career and am excited to get to work."

Spojnia was promoted to the PLK after winning the I Liga championship in 2018.

"Baylee is the hardest-working player I've ever been around," said Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot. "He was a pleasure to coach. I think Baylee's work ethic and talent will transition well to the professional level. I look for him to have a very productive career."

Steele will be the second Duquesne player coached by Dambrot to play professionally overseas joining Jordan Robinson (2015-18), who competed last season in Portugal.
https://twitter.com/SpojniaStargard/status/1275452251746664450?s=20 https://twitter.com/SpojniaStargard/status/1275452251746664450?s=20

https://twitter.com/SpojniaStargard/status/1275452251746664450?s=20 https://twitter.com/SpojniaStargard/status/1275452251746664450?s=20 https://twitter.com/SpojniaStargard/status/1275452251746664450?s=Here's a list of players who finished their career at Duquesne and played professionally last season (2020) or are embarking on a professional career this year (current country listed):

Player (at Duquesne) - Current country
Martin Osimani (2004-05) - Uruguay
Aaron Jackson (2006-09) - Israel
Ovie Soko (2014) - England
Derrick Colter (2013-16) - Switzerland
Jordan Robinson (2015-18) - Portugal*
Baylee Steele (2020) - Poland*

* - played at least one season under current Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot