Former Boston Celtics draft pick Yam Madar commits to LSU basketball

LSU basketball's Will Wade is still building his roster for his first season back in Baton Rouge, but the Tigers head coach just picked up one of his biggest — and perhaps most controversial — recruits yet.

Point guard Yam Madar, who most recently played for Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, committed to play collegiately for LSU on Monday. According to various reports, Madar agreed to a $5 million deal to join the Tigers.

Madar has played in Israel, Serbia, Germany and Turkey throughout his professional career. He was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft, and played three Summer League games for Boston in 2021. He never played in the NBA and in that brief Summer League stint, he averaged 4.7 points per game.

Madar's career at LSU begins as overseas pros committing to American colleges comes under more scrutiny. Most famously, Alabama center Charles Bediako attempted to come back to the Crimson Tide after playing in the NBA G-League, but was ruled ineligible after five games.

More analogous to Madar's situation is that of James Nnaji. Nnaji was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 2023 while playing for FC Barcelona Bàsquet in Spain, and later played 18 games for Baylor in the 2025-26 college basketball season.