Maccabi Tel Aviv and Roman Sorkin are finally together as one. It may have taken a bit longer than what was expected but the big man finally signed a one-year deal with an option for a second with the Yellow & Blue. This past season with Maccabi Haifa saw Sorkin average 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds long with 2 assists a game in roughly 29 minutes a game.

“This is a player who has all the potential to establish his basketball at the EuroLeague level as well, and that’s why we signed him”, explained head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos. “We believe he can be an important player for us in the Israeli League and also in the EuroLeague. He’s a player with a lot of upside.”

“As an Israeli player who grew up in Israeli basketball, this is a very exciting day for me – the day I signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv,” said Roman Sorkin. “It is a high level to reach, but now is the time to prepare and go to work, in order to bring joy, pride and of course titles to the amazing Maccabi fans, which are known throughout Europe.”

Last October, The Sports Rabbi spoke to the Oregon product just as the Israeli basketball world came back to life after being on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sorkin spoke about a myriad of topics including his career to date, the desire to represent Israel with the National Team, his big dream of one day playing with Maccabi Tel Aviv which he will now fulfil and much more.

“I’m really excited to get back to basketball, we’re finally returning to play. I hope we’ll have a proper season and not just these games here or a shortened campaign. We want to get back to what it was like before, with fans, supporters but right now it’s just great that we are getting to play again.”

As for what Sorkin did during the lockdown when basketball was put on pause he said, “During the break I trained and did some running while working on a plan from the fitness trainer. I did the best and most that I could even running up and down stairs in my building because I wanted to stay in shape.”

The 2019/20 season was the best in Sorkin’s career. The youngster who can play both power forward and center helped Haifa advance to the WINNER League playoffs last year and averaged 10.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in over 22 minutes per game. As one of the top Israeli players, the 2019/20 season was his first full campaign in the first division.

“I didn’t really think about the stats that I put up last season. It was much more important for me to go as far as we could as a team. We had the opportunity and we wanted to more and more. This was my first full season and it was great for me to finally be able to show what I can do and that more and more people would know who I am. I was in the United States for a while and I played in the youth system, but I wasn’t really there. I grew up on Israeli basketball and I watched the games as a young child and to now be a part of it, it’s just amazing.”

Former Greens Head Coach Daniel Seoane was a colorful character on the Greens sidelines and Sorkin has enjoyed working with him, “It’s a lot of fun. He is from the new generation of coaches and he always comes to practice with new things. He gives you confidence and he will scream at you if need be but he’s just great to be with. So far each season I’ve learned so much from him not only in the two league but also in the Leumit. He has coaches three different teams with Maccabi Haifa and I am the only player to have been on all three.”

Sorkin was born on Belarus and moved to Israel when he was two years old and while he doesn’t remember much from when he was just a baby, he has visited the country many times. “When I was in grades 7-12 I flew there almost every summer to visit my father as well as other parts of my family. In fact, an uncle of mine was the Belarus National Team coach once upon a time and came to play against Israel. I had a chance to practice with them and it was something that I will never forget.”

As a child, Sorkin actually played soccer but his uncle pushed him towards the sport of basketball, “I loved soccer and I didn’t want to stop playing. But when I was young and in elementary school everyone told me that I was too tall to play and that I would get the ball stolen off of my feet. So I moved to basketball and fell in love with it.”

Thee may not have been specific basketball role models that Sorkin patterned his game after but he certainly has a number of players that he enjoys watching, “Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic are two players that I really love to watch play. They make the game look so easy and they have such a great understanding of the game.”

Sorkin grew up playing in the Elitzur Ashdod youth department and played with many of his friends form the local neighborhood, “Its as really a lot of fun to play with my pals. Two of them (Yair Ben Shitrit anf Shai Michael) brought me to the club and I was hooked. We have been together for what seems to be forever. I was actually terrible and they were much better than me but it was great.”

In 2014, Sorkin took a big step in his career and went to the University of Oregon. Although he didn’t play big minutes during his four years at the school he did advance to the 2017 Final Four and played with Maccabi tel Aviv guard Tyler Dorsey as well.

“I was very unprepared for what awaited me and many said that perhaps I made a mistake to go as I was very young and wasn’t ready for this step as a player. But I learnt a tremendous amount in work ethic, mentality at the highest of levels and this was what i wanted to experience. I wanted to go there and learn the game and it wasn’t a problem that I didn’t play very much as I worked on my game and constantly improved my play.”

“Tyler and I are in touch and we talk a lot. During the corona break we couldn’t see each other and e also flies a lot with Maccabi so there isn’t much time to hang out but we used to room together at Oregon. We are really good friends.”

At Oregon, Sorkin played with Jordan Bell and Chris Boucher, both of which have won NBA titles, Bell with Golden State and Bouche with both the Warriors and Toronto. “Those two guys deserve to be where they are from a mentality, physical and understanding of the game standpoint. They play every game hard and they always want to win. They are such fun players to be with and you can only understand that if you were with them on the team. They are great people as well.”

Very few players, especially Israelis have the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament and even fewer advance to the Final Four. However, Sorkin was one of the lucky few to do so, “It was crazy. I remember sitting on the bench just looking out at the crowd in the massive Arizona football stadium. We had what seemed to be a ten minute run from the lockerroom to the court, it was a grandiose event and the biggest that I was ever at.”

In 2018/19 Sorkin played for Maccabi Haifa in the Leumit League and was one of the club’s most important players who helped the team win the finals over Hapoel Galil Elyon three games to one to send the Greens back into the top division.

“That was our goal all season long as a number of players stayed with the team in order to help them move back up a league. We all had a chip on our shoulders and we knew that we had to do it but we did have some bumps along the way. We did what we were told and played as a team and it was one of the sweetest feelings in the world to be able to accomplish the mission we set out to do under all of that pressure.

Over the summer of 2019, Sorkin took part in the Universiade in Napoli with the Israel National Team under the direction of Oded Katash and made his full debut in February 2021 against Romania in a Eurobasket 2022 qualifier against Romania, “We played the United States and ended up losing but we led for most of the way. The other great thing was that although it was an Under-25 team, we were with the full national team staff and I was able to take in a lot even though I didn’t play that much. The practices were at the highest level and it was just great to be able to be in that environment.”

When Sorkin returned to Israel from his time at Oregon, he enlisted in the Israeli army an is set to finish his service in the spring of 2021. In an exhibition game against Nes Ziona Sorkin had to leave in the middle of the game in order to get to his base for his shift in time. The big man explained that combining the army and basketball isn’t that simple, “I’m handling it and it’s part of the requirements that I have to meet. I hope that people will think of me even more positively and I believe that I am a basketball player and soldier who has completed the most hours in T’Zahal. Every day I have a shift between 18:00-22:00 at night and Haifa has been very accommodating with the practice schedule.”

Sorkin almost made his full Israel National Team debut but had to be held out due to an injury and although he’ll have to wait a bit longer he can’t wait to fulfill a dream, “I don’t think that there is a basketball player in the entire world who doesn’t want to represent his country. To be at the level where you can play for your own national team is a dream and I hope that the opportunity will present itself in the near future.”

In the summer of 2020, Sorkin was a candidate to join Maccabi Tel Aviv and according to various reports a deal was to be consummated with the yellow-and-blue having to buyout his contract that had one year remaining on it with Haifa in order to obtain his services. Ultimately the move didn’t happen and many didn’t understand why it fell apart.

“We didn’t come to an agreement because at the end of the day I didn’t sign with Maccabi. Things were put out in the press as if they had spoken to me and their wasn’t a deal in place, it was just talk. It was said that it was all done, I don’t know, to put pressure or not to put pressure, but we were in negotiations with a lot of options as to why to go and why not to go. I still had another year on my contract and that was also a part of this for better or for worse. I don’t really mean worse but I wasn’t a free agent who could just sign with another team. It didn’t work out and I hope that in the future I will be able to play there and they will want me. But this time around it just didn’t work out.”

Sorkin continued, “Of course I would want to play there. They are one of the best teams in Europe and it’s the dream of every player, especially as an Israeli. It wasn’t the case that they didn’t want me. There were a number of bureaucratic things that needed to be worked out and not just money issues, there were many things. I hope that in the future things will work out and that I am good enough they will want me in the future.”

Playing in another European country is also an option he explained, “A number of teams approached me including Dinamo Sassari. I want to continue to advance and I can do that with Haifa. We also have one of the best arenas in the country and one of the best crowds that support the club. Right now I am with Maccabi Haifa and what will be afterwards may change a million times. As long as we continue to improve as a club the more we will all benefit later on.”

Almost every pre-season Haifa goes on a tour of the NBA as the club has a chance to play numerous exhibition games against the likes of the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and other teams across North America. “The toughest player that I had to go up against was Boban Marjanovic who was just so huge that you couldn’t do anything against him. He literally dunked on me like I was a little child when I tried to block him.”

Sorkin has an excellent shot as he averaged 57.8% from two and 38.4% from 3 as he is a threat from the field for a big man. “I think that the game is moving towards the 3-pointer. Jimmy Butler spoke about Duncan Robinson before game 6 of the NBA Finals and said that it’s important he hits his shots because 3 points are more than 2. This really shows where the game is headed more and more.”

“When I was around 16-17 I was told that 3-pointers weren’t important because I was big but I didn’t listen and I kept working on that part of my game. It ended up helping me and it’s part of my arsenal. In the NBA there are many big men who shoot other three and that is the style of their game.”

As for dreams down the road for Sorkin he’s looking to win as many titles as he can because, “That’s what people always remember you for. But I also want to be able to tell my grandchildren what I accomplished. you won’t be remembered for scoring just one point, but when you win a title you’ll be remembered forever.”