| Eli Abaev | |
| Position: | Power forward / center |
| League: | Liga Leumit |
| Team: | Maccabi Haifa |
| Number: | 14 |
| Birth Date: | 1998 12, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Coral Springs, Florida, U.S. |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 8 |
| Weight Lb: | 205 |
| High School: | Zion Lutheran (Deerfield Beach, Florida) |
| College: |
|
| Draft Year: | 2021 |
| Career Start: | 2021 |
| Years1: | 2021–2022 |
| Team1: | Hapoel Be'er Sheva |
| Years2: | 2022–present |
| Team2: | Maccabi Haifa B.C. |
Eli Abaev (Hebrew: אלי אבייב; born December 13, 1998) is an American-Israeli basketball player for Maccabi Haifa of the Liga Leumit. He plays at the power forward and center positions.[1] He played college basketball for Eastern Florida State College, Austin Peay State University, and Florida Gulf Coast University.
Abaev was born in Israel and moved to the United States as a child. His hometown is Coral Springs, Florida. Abaev is Jewish.[2] [3] [4] [5] [1] He is 6' 8" (203 cm) tall.[1] He weighs 205 pounds (93 kg).[1]
He played at Zion Lutheran High School in Deerfield Beach.[4] [6] There, Abaev averaged 12 points and eight rebounds per game on 56% shooting from the floor for the Lions.[4] [6]
Abaev began his college career playing for Eastern Florida State College for two years.[7] In 2016–17 in his first season, as the Titans were national runners-up, as a freshman he shot 59.8% from the floor, and had 7.4 rebounds per game.[4] [8] [9] He was named to the 2017 National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Championship All-Tournament team.[4] [8] [9]
In 2017–18, Abaev helped the Titans finish third in the NJCAA National Championship Tournament.[4] [8] [10] He averaged 9.1 points and 9.8 rebounds (2nd in NJCAA Region 8) per game, shot 52.9% from the floor, and received First Team All-Mid-Florida Conference honors.[4] [8] [10]
He transferred to Austin Peay State University, and in 2018–19, due to a lower-body injury, he redshirted.[4] [11] [12]
As a redshirt junior in 2019–20 he played for Austin Peay.[7] [4] In 2019–20 Abaev averaged 7.9 points and 7.7 rebounds (4th in the Ohio Valley Conference) per game for the Austin Peay Governors, shooting 50.6% from the field.[4]
Abaev then transferred and attended Florida Gulf Coast University, graduating in 2021.[1] In 2020–21 he played for the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.[5] He averaged 7.1 points, 7.4 rebounds (3rd in the Atlantic Sun Conference), and 0.7 blocks (4th) per game.[5]
Abaev started his professional career playing for Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, with whom he signed on June 21, 2021.[1] [9] [13] [14]
Abaev played for Team USA in the 2019 European Maccabi Games, winning a gold medal and averaging 17.0 points and 15.3 rebounds in six games.[4] In the gold medal game against Team Russia, he scored 23 points and had 28 rebounds.