Jalen Billups' Ballarat Miners career ended before it began, with the club confirming the import departed home to America.
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The 28-year-old flashed mouthwatering potential at the Ballarat Basketball Senior Tournament, leading the Miners in scoring en-route to a grand final win.
However it was the last fans would see of Billups, who was forced to leave the country amid the COVID-19 outbreak a fortnight ago.
Basketball Ballarat chief executive Peter Eddy said the import had expressed concern prior to his departure that he wouldn't be able to get home if international travel was shut down. The concern factored into the organisation's decision to withdraw from the NBL1 competition before the league was officially suspended.
"We knew that we may not be able to get Jalen out of Australia if the US borders closed and he would be stuck here," Eddy said.
