The newcomer

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - Montenegro made an important announcement this past week when they revealed that Tyrese Rice was a member of their national team program.

An American from Virginia, the point guard played at Boston College and earned the distinction of being on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team.

He's been a solid pro in Europe.

Last season, Rice played for one of the continent's most accomplished coaches, Svetislav Pesic, at Bayern Munich, and only recently Maccabi Tel Aviv snapped him up, which means he has an opportunity to play Euroleague basketball next season under David Blatt.

If he does end up playing for Montenegro at the EuroBasket in September in Group B, they have a new weapon in the backcourt to throw at Serbia, Lithuania, Latvia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Naturalized players have been hugely important for national teams over the years.

Remember Pennsylvania native JR Holden hitting the title-winning shot for Russia at EuroBasket 2007 in Madrid?

A couple of years of ago, Bo McCalebb set EuroBasket 2011 alight in Lithuania when he averaged 23.5 points per game for his adopted country, MKD.

Even though MKD were far from a one-man squad, it's safe to say they wouldn't have come close to their fourth-place finish without the explosive McCalebb.

In 2011, Congolese-born big man Serge Ibaka also made his debut with Spain after becoming a Spanish citizen.

He had played in Spain not long ago, for Manresa, before joining the Oklahoma City Thunder and becoming a smash hit in the NBA.

He helped Spain win gold in Lithuania, and silver at last year's Olympics.

Montenegro fully understand the ins and outs of the naturalization process.

There has a real din about Montenegro-born Nikola Mirotic playing for Spain's U20 teams.

Mirotic recently turned down the chance to play for the senior team.

There will be many national teams in action this summer that have naturalized players. Rice is not the first player to be awarded a Montenegrin passport.

New Yorker Omar Cook was their floor general, playing from 2008 when they competed in Division B all the way through EuroBasket 2011.

Last year, American Taylor Rochestie took up the naturalized spot for Montenegro and averaged 8.4 points and 4.3 assists in the unbeaten Qualification Round run.

The sight of Israel brought out the best in Rochestie because he had 12 and 15 points, respectively, in those two Montenegro wins.

Rochestie averaged 26 minutes per game for Montenegro and was embraced by the players.

He has been with the squad this summer as well as they prepare for the EuroBasket, and gives regular updates via his @Trochestie Twitter account.

Teams are only allowed one naturalized player, so either Rochestie or Rice will play at the EuroBasket.

Montenegro coach Luka Pavicevic will now weigh up the merits of Rice and Rochestie and determine which player is the best fit.

Rice sounds like a player who is eager to enter the fray.

"Getting a place for the World Cup in Spain next year would be a dream come true, but we have to go step by step," he said.

If Rice helps Montenegro claim a top-six finish, the country will book a place at next year's FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Were Spain to finish in the first six, then a top-seven place would be good enough for Montenegrins to reach the competition.

Then again, Rice will know that with teams only allowed one naturalized spot, there is no guarantee that the spot would be his.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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