(Image - 10.3.2011 - A Turkish medical official administers a routine health check to Los Angeles Sparks player Jantel Lavender prior to the 2011/2012 International Season - Istanbul, Turkey)
Los Angeles Sparks forward and former Buckeye All-American, Jantel Lavender, arrived to Istanbul, Turkey (pictured left: one of the first photos of Lavender in Turkey) in early October 2011 for her first career international campaign with famous club sports club Besiktas. Besiktas has garnered worldwide press in recent years due to their notable men's basketball signings of Allen Iverson (2010) and Deron Williams (2011). The club's financial situation has also received considerable publicity after it was reported that their accounts had been froze in the aftermath of a football (soccer) match fixing scandal.According to this Sporting News article, Besiktas has reportedly had problems with paying athletes on time as well, in addition to soccer scandal (Boy, Turkish sports doesn't sound like the most professional outfit out there, lol). And it was late payments that ultimately led to the mid November departures of American women's bsketball imports Jantel Lavender & Amber Harris who both left after a little over a month of service (dispute was contract breach by Besiktas in form of late payments - Source1, Source2, Source - ESPN Marc Stein).
It is currently not known if Lavender will join another team for the remainder of the 2011/2012 international season or instead opt to prepare for WNBA #2 in the States.
J-Lav in Turkey - Besiktas is going to wish they were more professional because they had a gem in Jantel Lavender. Lav played in three Turkish League Regular season games, and two Eurocup games with a scoring average of 22 points with 8 rebounds. Her biggest game in Turkey was a monster 36 point/10 rebound effort versus Galatasaray, the overseas squad of fellow WNBA stars Tina Charles (pictured left: Lavender matches up with Charles) and Diana Taurasi. Lavender scored more than half of her team's total points in the 82-63 defeat to Galatasaray.
It is currently not known if Lavender will join another team for the remainder of the 2011/2012 international season or instead opt to prepare for WNBA #2 in the States.
(#14 Jantel Lavender - Turkey Late 2011 - Amber Harris in left background)
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