Noam Dovrat, arguably one of Israel’s top basketball prospects moved from Maccabi Rishon Le’Zion to Hapoel Jerusalem in one of the league’s biggest transfers over the past decade.

The 19-year old, who was the youngest captain in Rishon’s history grew up in the club’s youth system beginning at the age of five and was part of the team which advanced to the Israel State Cup Finals and to the league championship over the past few seasons.

Dovrat moved to Jerusalem in a deal that is reportedly worth over 1 million NIS and signed a 3.5 year contract with the club which currently finds themselves in first place overall as well as in the Basketball Champions League. Rishon Le’Zion on the other hand are battling against relegation and are in last place overall which was one of the reasons the club decided to sell Dovrat to the Reds.

“It was a dream of mine as a young child in the youth system to one day become the captain of Rishon’s senior team,” Dovrat said. “Rishon has been an integral part of my life since I was a youngster and I want to thank the chairman Itzhak Peri who saw a player with a dream and did everything to help make that a reality.”

Near the end of the last campaign, Dovrat who stands at 1.94 meters (6”4 ft) injured his elbow on a freak play but had returned to action this season, however, his statistics dropped from 10.6 points to 5.1 points per game and saw diminished numbers in minutes, rebounds and assists.

Dovrat, who was slated to enter the 2022 NBA Draft before the injury was a surefire prospect and will now look to continue his growth as a player with Hapoel Jerusalem.

“Noam is one of the great talents in Israeli basketball,” Reds coach Yotam Halperin noted. “He is still very young and has plenty of room to continue to develop, but he will also be tested to contribute right now for the squad as well. This is a very important strategic signing for the club and I am sure that the fans will enjoy Noam for many years to come.”

With Jerusalem, Dovrat will not have the pressure with Jerusalem that he had been under at Rishon Le’Zion as they flounder in the league’s basement with a chance of finding themselves in the second division next season. With that in mind, Dovrat will be able to work on his game with one of the country’s top franchises and also be able to become an important piece of the Reds puzzle without having the weight of the captaincy and possible relegation on him.

However, Dovrat is also well aware that there are expectations to perform at the highest level as well and justify such a massive move by both teams, “I’m happy to join Hapoel on a long term deal. This gives me a great feeling that the club believes in me and they are also counting on me. Now my job is to validate this move.”

Dovrat will already have his first test as a member of Hapoel Jerusalem on Saturday night at 20:20 Israel time when the Reds welcome Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Classico. At the game the League will be handing out special boxes of chocolates to the players and tam staff to celebrate the New Year in style.