MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Drew Stover '25, the 2025 PSAC East Athlete of the Year, will continue his basketball career in the professional ranks as he has signed a contract with the Den Helder Suns in the Netherlands. 

Stover, a 6-8 forward, averaged 17.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the Marauders in 2024-25. He ranked second in the PSAC in blocked shots after leading the conference as a junior. Stover set a Millersville record with a .658 career field goal percentage.

Stover joins an organization that competes in the 19-team BNXT League, which includes teams from Belgium and the Netherlands. He'll be looking to help turn around the Suns after they finished 15th in the standings last season. The season begins in September, and Stover reports to Den Helder, a city with a population of 56,000 located on the northern coast of the Netherlands, on Aug. 15. Coincidentally, it won't be Stover's first trip to the country this year. 

To celebrate his graduation from Millersville in May, Stover traveled to Europe and made a stop in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. 

"When we got to Amsterdam, I texted my agent and asked if there was basketball here," said Stover. "There are tons of things to do. Everyone bikes and walks. There is a lot of nightlife, and I liked how friendly the people are. Everyone speaks perfect English, and I didn't want to go somewhere where there would be a tough language barrier."

Stover's father, Bret, also a Millersville alum, happened to be in Germany around the time that Stover signed his contract. Bret took a train ride to Den Helder, met the team's general manager, Marco Starrenburg, and saw the facilities.

Living in Europe as a professional athlete will be a significant change for Stover, who has spent the entirety of his life, including his four years at Millersville, in Southeastern Pennsylvania. But after balancing student teaching and the rigorous PSAC East schedule in the spring semester, Stover welcomes the opportunity to focus solely on his game.

"It will be nice to play basketball without worrying about school and teaching," said Stover.

Stover received his bachelor's degree in social studies education in May, but the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel and play professional basketball put his career as an educator on hold.

"Both of my parents were teachers, and both of them didn't get into teaching until they were around 30," said Stover. "There are teaching openings everywhere in Pennsylvania, so I decided that it wasn't something that I needed to rush into. This is a great opportunity to experience something new."

Stover is the fourth Marauder coached by Casey Stitzel to sign a professional contract, and joins Matt Dade '24 and Jaden Faulkner '24 as active members of professional teams. Faulkner averaged nearly 16 points per game playing for Lankaran in Azerbaijan from January through April, and has received interest from clubs in other nations for the coming season. Dade had an outstanding run with Lanus in Argentina from October through December before joining Lahti in Finland in the spring. With Lahti, Dade averaged 16.5 points per game. He also played three games in May in the Dominican Republic.