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Clyburn caps season with EuroLeague title, Final Four MVP

AP PHOTO - Moscow’s Will Clyburn celebrates with his wife Jasmine, left, and their children Kalon, center, and Kaydence after the final basketball game between Anadolu Efes Istanbul and CSKA Moscow on Sunday at the Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria, Spain.

VICTORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain — Former Marshalltown Community college basketball standout Will Clyburn was named the Most Valuable Player of the EuroLeague Final Four after leading CSKA Moscow to an 91-83 win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the title game.

Clyburn won the vote of the hundreds of media members at the Final Four after scoring 20 points in the championship game. He also had 18 points when CSKA Moscow dethroned last year’s champ, Real Madrid, in Friday’s semifinals.

Most of the damage from Clyburn came from the 3-ball, as he went 7-for-10 from behind the 3-point line in both games. He also tied for the team lead with 10 rebounds between the two contests.

This was Clyburn’s third season in the EuroLeague and second with CSKA. He was voted by fans and medial to the all-EuroLeague first team and received that award the day before the final, which also happened to be his 29th birthday. He finished the season averaging 13.6 points per game to go with a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game.

“I’ve come a long way, I’m grateful to be here,” Clyburn said. “Coach [Dimitri Itoudis] believed in me, and he trusts me. He trusts in my game and my experience. He’s led me in the right direction.”

At MCC, Clyburn was a first-team all-ICCAC and first-team all-Region XI selection as a sophomore after earning all-ICCAC honorable mention as a freshman.

Following his stint as a Tiger, Clyburn earned second-team all-Mountain West honors in his one year at Utah. The Detroit native completed his collegiate career with Iowa State where he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after leading ISU in scoring at 14.9 points per game.

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