Former Rutgers basketball player signs with European club that once owned an NBA legend

Oskar Palmquist starts his professional career in his home country at a club that once belonged to an NBA legend.

The former Rutgers basketball player has signed with Borås Basket, the Swedish club announced on Monday. He is the second former Scarlet Knight to sign his professional contract abroad this season, alongside his former teammate Aundre Hyatt.

“I have been cheering for the team since I was little,” Palmquist said, according to a press release. “After college, I had many opportunities, but it felt right to come home. Borås has always been my team and I am very excited to play in front of our fans at Boråshallen.”

The Borås-based club plays in the Svenska Basketligan, the highest Swedish basketball league.

Borås Basket was once sponsored by Lakers legend Magic Johnson as part of a marketing deal and was a co-owner of the club. As a result of the deal, the club was renamed “Magic M7 Borås” in the 1999-2000 season and 40-year-old Johnson played for five games that season. While the goal of his appearances was to “help the team generate revenue,” they also went undefeated during that period, according to Johnson.

“The team owner contacted me to see if I would be interested in a marketing deal,” Johnson tweeted in March. “They offered me a share of the team in cash and named it after me, but I was never the majority owner. I was excited about the opportunity and even agreed to play in 5 games, all of which were sold out, to help the team generate revenue! I had so much fun! Kudos to all the fans in Sweden who came out to support the Magic man and watch him play!”

The project eventually failed due to pre-existing financial problems, forcing the club into bankruptcy. It finally returned to the Svenska Basketligan in 2007 and won its only title in the 2019–20 season after it was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Borås, Palmquist will now start his professional career, which he decided to continue this winter instead of his final college eligibility.

Last season, Palmquist averaged 2.7 points in 10.9 minutes per game in 28 appearances (twice from the start) with a shooting percentage of 42.9% (61.5% on two-pointers, 29.7% on three-pointers, 73.3% on free throws), 1.4 rebounds and 0.5 steals.

Palmquist, a three-star recruit in the class of 2020, played sparingly during his time with the Scarlet Knights. In 76 career appearances (four starts), Palmquist averaged 2.1 points on 39% shooting (51.1% on twos, 33% on threes and 64.5% on free throws), 1.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 8.5 minutes per game.

After enrolling in the second semester of the 2019-20 season, the Sweden native played in 12 games as a redshirt freshman the following fall, averaging five minutes per game. He played in 15 games as a sophomore, carved out a role as a junior when forward Mawot Mag went down with a season-ending knee injury in early February, and then was used sporadically as a backup as a senior.

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You can reach Brian Fonseca at [email protected].