Ex-Rutgers basketball player signs with European club that NBA legend once owned

Oskar Palmquist is starting his professional career back in his home country at a club that was once co-owned by an NBA legend.

The former Rutgers basketball player signed with Borås Basket, the Swedish club announced Monday. He becomes the second former Scarlet Knight to sign his professional contract overseas this offseason, joining former teammate Aundre Hyatt.

“I’ve been cheering for the team since I was little,” Palmquist said, according to a press release. “I have had many options now after college, but it felt right to come home. Borås has always been my team and I am very excited to run out in Boråshallen in front of our fans.”

Based out of Borås, the club plays in the Svenska Basketligan — the top league in Swedish basketball.

Borås Basket was once sponsored and co-owned by Lakers legend Magic Johnson as part of a marketing deal. Renamed “Magic M7 Borås” during the 1999-2000 season as a result of the deal, the club saw a 40-year-old Johnson suit up for five games during that campaign. While the objective of his appearances were to “help the team drive revenue,” according to Johnson, they also went undefeated in that span.

“The team owner reached out to me to see if I had any interest in doing a marketing deal,” Johnson tweeted this March. “They offered me a percentage of the team with cash and named it after me, but I was never the majority owner. I was excited about the opportunity and even agreed to play in 5 games, all sold out, to help the team drive revenue! I had so much fun! Shout out to all the fans in Sweden who showed up to support and watch the Magic man play!”

The project eventually failed due to preexisting financial troubles, forcing the club to go into bankruptcy. It eventually returned to the Svenska Basketligan in 2007 and won its sole title during the 2019-20 season after it was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Borås, Palmquist will now start his professional career, which he elected to pursue in lieu of using his final season of collegiate eligibility this winter.

Palmquist averaged 2.7 points on 42.9% shooting (61.5% on twos, 29.7% on threes, 73.3% on free throws), 1.4 rebounds and 0.5 steals in 10.9 minutes per game across 28 appearances (two starts) last season.

A three-star recruit in the class of 2020, Palmquist played sparingly throughout his time with the Scarlet Knights. In 76 career appearances (four starts), Palmquist averaged 2.1 points on 39% shooting (51.1% on twos, 33% on threes and 64.5% on free throws), 1.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 8.5 minutes per game.

After enrolling in the second semester of the 2019-20 season, the Sweden native played in 12 games as a redshirt freshman the following fall, averaging five minutes per contest. He played in 15 games as a sophomore, carved out a role as a junior when starting forward Mawot Mag went down with a season-ending knee injury in early February, then became a sporadically-used substitute as a senior.

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Brian Fonseca may be reached at bfonseca@njadvancemedia.com.