TUN - Mejri signs for Spanish champs Real

MADRID (AfroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - The Most Valuable Player of AfroBasket 2011, Salah Mejri of Tunisia, has signed for Real Madrid.

The Spanish champions have confirmed that the 27-year-old who made his Olympic bow last summer at the London Games has joined the team after just one season in the Liga Endesa with Blusens Monbus.

"He has the capacity to intimidate, rebound and to play the game above the rim," Real said in a statement.

The league's Revelation of the Year after averaging 9.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 20 minutes per game with the Obradoiro C.A.B. (Blusens), Mejri will now have an opportunity to compete not only in the Liga Endesa but in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague.

His rise to prominence has been astonishing.

Between 2006 and 2010, Mejri was on the books of Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia.

At AfroBasket 2009, Mejri averaged less than 15 minutes per game for a side that captured the bronze medal.

Mejri played in Belgium from 2010-12 with Antwerp before joining Blusens.

He has experienced international basketball not only at the Olympics and AfroBasket, but at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

The 2011 MVP award, Mejri said in an interview with FIBA.com, convinced him that the sky was the limit.

"It changed my life a lot," he said.

"To come back to Belgium (to play for Antwerp Giants) as the AfroBasket MVP pushed me a lot, gave me a lot of confidence."

Mejri is now with Tunisia gearing up for the AfroBasket, which tips off on 20 August in Cote d’Ivoire.

Tunisia will launch their AfroBasket championship defense with games in Group B against Rwanda, Burkina Faso and Morocco.

FIBA