By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After declining a team option, Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet ended the stint of John Brown III.
The decision was announced on Thursday.
Returning to action after a shoulder injury, the 33-year-old American power forward signed with the team based in Belgrade in December. Early in his stint, he helped the team coached by Giannis Sfairopoulos win the Radivoj Korac Cup. Bouncing back in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, he averaged 4.0 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest over 17 appearances, including nine starts.
More experience in Europe’s premier club continental competition, between 2021 and 2024, went from UNICS to AS Monaco.
Coming out of a four-year NCAA run with High Point, the Jacksonville native started his professional career in Italy, suiting up for UniCusano Roma, De’ Longhi Treviso, and Happy Casa Brindisi from 2016 to 2020, and returned at the bottom end of the 2021-22 journey with Germani Brescia.
With nine new players compared to the end of the 2024-25 season, a complicated situation at Zvezda is likely to prompt more departures, besides potential additional summer signings. Joel Bolomboy, Isaiah Canaan, Tyson Carter, Dejan Davidovac, Ognjen Dobric, Yago dos Santos, Rokas Giedraitis, Ebuka Izundu, Nikola Kalinic, Codi Miller-McIntyre, Luka Mitrovic, Chima Moneke, Branko Lazic, Jordan Nwora, and Semi Ojeleye are in a long list of players currently under contract.
Guided by 58-year-old Sfairopoulos, roster decisions and further preparations are leading into the 2025-26 editions of the EuroLeague and AdmiralBet ABA League, in addition to domestic competitions in Serbia.