Just in time for the official start of the pre-season this Tuesday evening, the FC Bayern basketball team has completed its squad: Power forward Augustine Rubit, who is well known in the BBL, will wear the jersey of the EuroLeague quarterfinalist in the upcoming season. The 32-year-old American played for EuroLeague rival and double winner Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas last season.
In the Bundesliga, Rubit played for Tuebingen, Ulm and Bamberg - in his first year under current FCBB head coach Andrea Trinchieri. His scoring average from 187 BBL games so far is 13 points. In Munich, the experienced frontcourt player is now entering his fourth season in the EuroLeague, where he is listed with an average of 8.2 points, an 81 percent free-throw rate and four rebounds per game after 87 appearances.
"I really want to win something here!"
Augustine Rubit on his expectations at FCBB
Rubit began his professional career in the summer of 2015 with the Tigers of Tuebingen. With 14 points per game, he recommended himself for the next level with EuroCup starter Ulm. In those two years (BBL: 11.5 ppg), he also made his debut in Europe's second-highest competition (11.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg) before subsequently making his debut in the premier league with Bamberg and Trinchieri (10.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg). He won the German Cup with the Franconians in 2019.
Rubit's first chapter outside the BBL was with Greek top club Olympiakos Piraeus in 2019/2020 (6.0 ppg, 3 rpg). In the past season, the athletic big man celebrated the national double of cup and championship with Zalgiris. In the EuroLeague, Rubit averaged 8.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in just over 19 minutes.
Double win with Kaunas: "With him our squad is complete".
"This will be my sixth season in Germany, so it's already very special and I can hardly wait. I've even seen several people wearing Bayern jerseys in Texas now and I know that this is another very special challenge with this team," said Augustine Rubit, who completed his medical checks in Munich on Monday.
His expectations are clear: "I definitely want to win something here! It's clear that no one can guarantee you anything at Bayern either, but if you put everything of yourself into it, it increases the chances and that's exactly what I'll do. Coach Trinchieri has great expertise, he has proven that everywhere. I can give the team my variability as a kind of combo forward, whether at the four or five position, depending on what is required of my strengths and capabilities."
Born in Houston, Texas, Augustine Rubit spent his college days with the Jaguars of the University of South Alabama. There, he stood out primarily as a rebounder and then as a junior as a strong scorer (19.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg), which later earned him the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year award.
"We are very happy that Augustine is joining us. He is another athletic big man who can play both positions," says FCBB sporting director Daniele Baiesi. He added: "Aug also knows our coach and is a long-time Bundesliga and EuroLeague veteran who has improved from year to year. With him, our squad is complete."
Rubit is the ninth FCBB transfer after Andreas Obst, Ognjen Jaramaz, Darrun Hilliard, Gavin Schilling, Joshua Obiesie, Othello Hunter, Corey Walden and Deshaun Thomas already signed on for the new season, which begins on September 26 (18:00) with a home game at the Audi Dome against Ulm. The Texan, who celebrated his 32nd birthday last week at home in Dallas, is married and father of a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter.
AUGUSTINE RUBIT
(*14. August 1989, Houston, Texas/USA)
Power Forward – 6t6 – 227 lbs
Until 2010: Christian Life Center Academy (High School)
2010 –2014: University of South Alabama (NCAA)
2014 – 2015: Walter Tigers Tübingen (BBL)
2015 – 2017: Ratiopharm Ulm (BBL)
2017 – 2019: Brose Bamberg (BBL)
2019 – 2020: Olympiakos Piräus (GRE)
2020 – 2021: BC Zalgiris Kaunas (LTU)
Awards and Achievements
Lithuanian Championship 2021
Lithuanian Cup Winner 2021
German Cup Winner 2019
MPV 2017/2018 EuroLeague-Gameday 21
Sun Belt Conference "Player of the year 2013“ (NCAA)
AP All-American team 2013
First team All-Sun Belt 2012, 2013
Sun Belt Conference „Freshman of the year 2011“