Did you know that Minsk's Dru Joyce is LeBron's former teammate?

MINSK (Basketball Champions League) - If Dru Joyce has proved he can do anything in his career, from the time he teamed up with LeBron James in high school to his many successful years in Germany to now in the Basketball Champions League (BCL) with Tsmoki-Minsk, it's that he's the king of assists.

The 31-year-old, who had 13 points and 9 assists in the Belarus outfit's 72-58 victory at Rilski Sportist on Tuesday, will look to wheel and deal some more tonight when the teams meet in the second leg of their Qualifying Round 1 tie.

If James left Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and become one of the greatest players in basketball history, Joyce has proved to be awesome in his own right.

Unlike James, who went straight to the pros as the first pick in the NBA Draft by Cleveland in the 2003 NBA Draft, Joyce stayed in Akron to play college basketball for the Zips. He was the school's all-time assists leader by the time he left in 2007.

In Germany earlier this year, Joyce became the league's all-time assists leader, an accomplishment that did not go unnoticed by his close friend back in Cleveland.

Joyce played for Ulm, Trier, Oldenburg, Braunschweig and Wurzburg, the team he broke the assists record with, in Germany's top flight.

Now he's in Belarus, and he's off to a blistering start in the BCL assists race. His 9 helpers have put him at the top of the charts after Tuesday's games.

While they have to win their tie against Rilski and then prevail in Qualifying Round 2 over Ironi Nahariya just to make it to the Regular Season of the competition, who knows?

Joyce, the man that set up James for so many his baskets back in high school and the same man that became an Akron Zips legend and German league great may be the player to lead the BCL in assists after its first year.