Harrison Cleary Joins Neptūnas Klaipėda, Extends European Basketball career
Klaipėda, Lithuania – Harrison Cleary, Minnesota Crookston’s all-time leading scorer, has signed a contract with Neptūnas Klaipėda, marking his sixth professional season in Europe. The move continues the decorated career of the former Golden Eagle, who concluded his collegiate tenure in 2019-20 as the NSIC‘s all-time leading scorer and the program’s top scorer. Cleary’s collegiate achievements include two All-American honors, multiple All-Region selections, and four All-NSIC nods, making him the most decorated men’s basketball player in Minnesota Crookston history.
Cleary arrives in Klaipėda after a recent season with VEF Riga in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League, where the team also participated in the Basketball Champions League of Europe. During the 2024-25 season, Cleary averaged 15.3 points and 3.1 assists per game, while shooting an extraordinary 45.6 percent from beyond the arc. The previous season, 2023-24, saw him play for Lahti Basketball in Finland’s Korisliiga, where he posted his career-best statistical season with averages of 22.9 points and 6.5 assists per game.
His professional journey also includes a stint with SC Rist Wedel in Germany’s Pro B league and the Veolia Hamburg Towers in the German BBL and Eurocup during the 2022-23 season. In that season, Cleary averaged 17.9 points and 3.7 assists per contest. Prior to that, the 2021-22 season saw him compete for CB Carbajosa in Spain’s Segunda FEB, where he recorded 15.1 points and 2.1 assists per game, shooting 45.7 percent from three-point range. Cleary began his professional career in the 2020-21 season with Amics Castello and CB Almansa in Spain’s Primera FEB, averaging 1.7 points per game.
Cleary’s signing highlights a strong presence of former Minnesota Crookston men’s basketball players in professional leagues during the 2024-25 season. Javier Nicolau concluded his fifth professional season with Gipuzkoa Basket in the Spanish Primera FEB, averaging 7.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.His European career includes two seasons with Rioverde Clavijo and one each with Safir Fruits Alginet and manderas Soril Benicarolo in Spain’s Segunda FEB. Nicolau’s most productive season was 2021-22, where he averaged 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds for Safir Fruits Alginet.
Ibu-Jassey Demba played for Fyllingen BBK in Norway last season, contributing 3.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He previously played for Hamar in iceland in 2023-24 and Selfoss in Iceland. Demba was also a teammate of Cleary’s at CB Carbajosa in Spain during the 2021-22 season. Matthew Allman competed for the Reading Rockets in the British NBL D1 last season, averaging 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game, following a season with Team Newcastle University. George Blaj-Voinescu played for CSM Steaua Bucuresti in Romania’s Division I last season, scoring 3.4 points per game, and spent the preceding three seasons with SCM CSU Craiova in Romania.
