Stark plans to continue career in Japan
MBB: The former OVC Player of the Year played for the Ehime Orange Vikings last year
After playing with the Ehime Orange Vikings in Japan this past season, Murray State Hall of Famer Jonathan Stark is now officially a free agent.
Ehime announced that they will not renew Stark’s contract when it expires on May 31st, and they’ve placed him on the free agent list in Japan’s B.League.
Stark played 12 games for Ehime last fall, where he averaged 14.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. In mid-November, his season ended after tearing his ACL.
Just five months after the injury, Stark tells RacerBasketball.com he’s ahead of schedule with his rehab and believes he’ll be fully cleared to return to basketball activities in June.
Stark said he plans to stay in Japan to continue his career, but he’s not sure where that will be just yet. Last season was his first in Japan after a successful campaign last year in Greece. He started last season in Israel playing with Hapoel Haifa, but left in October after the conflict started between Hamas and Israel. He moved on to Greece and finished the season playing with Aris Thessaloniki.
The 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year helped lead Murray State to the OVC regular-season and tournament championships that year. Stark was the fastest Murray State player to ever score 1,000-career points. His 1,408 points rank 21st all-time in Racer history.