Cowboys guard adjusting to life on the Plains
By Michael Sudhalter
Last August, Daniel Guetta left his family and friends in his hometown of Kiryat Gat, Israel, and traveled 7,000 miles to his college — sight unseen.
His first trip to the United States was not New York or Los Angeles, but Stillwater, Oklahoma — population just under 50,000.
“It’s a different culture,” said Guetta, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound freshman on the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team. “I didn’t know how different it was until I came here. It’s nice, and the people are nice here in Stillwater. I never saw something like that, where everyone supports the university’s sports.”
He also attended his first college football game at OSU.
“It was amazing to see the band and to see how many players were on one (football) team,” Guetta said. “I’m definitely a fan of OSU football. Next year will be better for them.”
Guetta, 22, will be in the Metroplex on Tuesday, Jan. 20, when the Cowboys (13-3) visit TCU at Schollmaier Arena. It will be Guetta’s third time competing in Texas. The Cowboys lost an exhibition game at SMU in October and a Big 12 Conference game at Texas Tech earlier this month.
In addition to the cultural change, Guetta is also adjusting to the different style of basketball between Israel and the United States. He has appeared in seven games, averaging 1.3 points and 0.6 rebounds.
“The opportunities will come,” Guetta said. “The pace of the game and physicality are different. I know what I can do, and I know what experience I have. I know what I can bring to the table. I am understanding the game and what I need to do.”
Guetta is believed to be OSU’s first Jewish men’s basketball player since Doug Gottlieb starred for the Cowboys from 1997–2000. Gottlieb, from California, went on to play and coach in Israel before becoming a sports television personality and college coach at Green Bay.
According to Hillel International’s Compare Colleges Tool, OSU has 50 Jewish students out of 20,792. There is no synagogue or Chabad in town, but a small Hillel exists on campus. Guetta knows only one other Jewish student, Adisu Guadie, who is a junior distance runner on the OSU track and field team.
Through connections his father made, Guetta finds a taste of home in Oklahoma City, about an hour away, with something of a host family. He has met Israelis there and converses in Hebrew.
“I go there when I need family around me,” Guetta said. “You can’t believe how much I miss Shabbat dinners. My parents are there. My brothers and all of my other cousins are coming.”
Guetta, who served in the Israel Defense Forces, plays for the Israel national team and previously played for Maccabi Rehovot and Hapoel Gilboa Galil in Israel.
It was his time playing for those clubs that made it possible for him to play NCAA Division I college basketball.
“During the summer, I was supposed to sign with the first division in Israel,” Guetta said. “I saw a lot of players my age sign with college basketball (in the United States). I said to my agent and family, ‘Let’s check this option.’”
Guetta, a business major, had a chance to sign with some smaller Division I programs.
“If I leave my country and my friends, I want to play at the highest level,” Guetta said.
In July 2023, Guetta helped lead the Israeli junior national team to a silver medal in Greece. He played against his now-OSU teammate, Lefteris “Lefty” Mantzoukas of Greece.
Guetta had not been in Oklahoma for two months when he watched the news in Israel of the remaining 20 living hostages returning home.
“It was a happy day,” Guetta said. “I went to sleep at 3 o’clock in the morning. For these families, seeing their sons and daughters for the first time in 2.5 years is something you cannot imagine.”
