Bayern Munich was just in Israel a couple of weeks ago when they defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv with ease 79-64 and now Svetislav Pesic’s team is back in the Holy Land looking to sweep their pair of games against Maccabi Tel Aviv who welcome the German team to Yad Eliyahu on Thursday at 21:05 in Euroleague action.

Oded Katash’s squad is coming off of a Double Week Serbian sweep that saw the yellow-and-blue improve their record to 12-15, good for 14th place with 11 games remaining, but are still 3 wins out of a Play In spot in 10th place.

Since veteran bench boss Pesic took over at Bayern, the club, which finds itself in 15th place and with an identical 12-15 record as Maccabi, are 7-3 in their last ten games which shows how much the Serbian maestro has been able to turn things around and swiftly.

One of the most interesting players for Israeli basketball aficionados in the Munich squad is without a doubt Justinian Jessup who played with Ben Saraf at Ulm last season. In his rookie Euroleague season, 27-year old Jessup is averaging 7.6 points, shooting 68.9% from two-point range, hitting a shade over one 3-pointer per game at 34.0%, and a perfect 100% from the free-throw line (23-of-23 overall), along with 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists against 0.7 turnovers, for an efficiency rating of 7.8 in 18:21 minutes per game.

Jessup had several clutch moments last season for Ulm which included a huge 3-pointer off an assist from Saraf (who scored 20 points in that game) with 19 seconds left in a dramatic 81–79 road win over Bayern in Game 3 of the German finals series, giving Ulm a 2–1 lead. Ultimately, however, Ulm lost the series 3–2.

After Bayern’s recent visit to Israel, Jessup spoke to The Sports Rabbi about his time thus far at Bayern and his debut campaign in Euroleague.

“The Euroleague has been good so far. Personally, I feel like I had a good January. Obviously, there was an adjustment period, but I feel like I’m getting more used to my role and to the competition overall.”

Speaking about a strong January, since Bayern’s big 95-71 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv following the previous loss to Hapoel Tel Aviv near the end of December, Jessup had scored in double figures in every game until the road win over the reds as well as last week’s victory against Monaco, making him without question a valued player in Pesic’s rotation.

Jessup was selected 51st overall in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft by none other than the Golden State Warriors. Interestingly enough, Jessup and Yam Madar, the 47th pick in that same draft, whom he faced at Yad Eliyahu are the only players from that draft who have yet to receive an opportunity in the NBA.

“That was a long time ago,” Jessup laughed when recalling the draft. “It was cool, kind of a weird experience given the circumstances with COVID and already being in Australia, but obviously that was a dream come true for me.”

Playing together with Saraf last season at Ulm was special for Jessep as he spoke about his former teammate who is now in the midst of his rookie season in the NBA, “Ben’s my guy, I loved playing with him last year, he’s a great dude, super hard worker, loves the game, so nothing but good things about him. I’m hoping he’s doing really well this year at Brooklyn.”

Against Maccabi, Jessup will see another familiar face from his time at Ulm in center Marcio Santos who has been playing stellar ball in his rookie season in the Euroleague, “Same thing as Ben. I really enjoyed the group last year with Ulm. We had good chemistry, a great team and a great group of guys, so I’m really happy for Marcio as well getting a Euroleague gig and it seems like he’s getting some opportunity as well and he’s doing well with it. I’m happy for him.”

The Israeli connection also with Jessup during his time in Australia at the New Zealand Breakers in 2023/24 where he played for former Hapoel Jerusalem coach Modi Maor, “Honestly, I thought Modi was a great coach, he was really organized and knew exactly what he wanted to achieve during practices and knew players and the game really well. Really hard worker, super hard worker. I thought Modi was a great coach, really intense. I didn’t play for him too many games because I was injured, but that was a good experience for me.”

Pesic, who was happy to be asked about Jessup, also shared his thoughts about how he has adjusted to the Euroleague and what he brings to table, “He’s not a new face in European basketball. He didn’t play Euroleague, but he has European experience. He started to play in Zaragoza, then after that in Ulm and he’s a very polyvalent player. He can play very good defense, he can defend two or three positions in defense and he’s left handed, he’s one who can take the shot. He’s a very good guy, excellent work ethic.”

“He is one example of a player who is not only playing game but how he prepares himself before the game and his work ethic every day. He’s really a model for everybody. His focus on basketball is an example as to how other players should treat the sport.”