Amedeo Della Valle leaving Ohio State to play in Europe for Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia

According to his personal Twitter account, Ohio State guard Amedeo Della Valle reports that he's leaving the university and pursuing a career playing professional basketball. An Ohio State spokesperson later confirmed the sophomore's departure. In a statement he tweeted out, Della Valle said the following:

"I wouldn't trade this experience with anything else, B1G Champions, the run to the Elite 8, the 12-0 year, man was that special. First of all mom, dad thank you for being on my side. I would like to thank not only my teammates but also the coaching staff that really helped me improve, you know without all the hard work I wouldn't have been able to win the Mvp in the europe [sic] and compete in the B1G. To my friends THANK YOU, guy guys made it special for me and will always have you for the rest of my life. I want to thank the best fans in the land. IT is now time for me to begin new experiences as I decided to head back to Europe to continue to play PRO basketball."

This decision is surprising to say the least, but given his inconsistent minutes and injury troubles this year, perhaps isn't the most shocking career move in the world.

While as he mentioned, ADV had a great showing in last summer's European Championship, he never quite had the same level of success on the hardwood in the states. Playing 11.9 minutes per game, ADV averaged 4 points per game to go along with 1.8 rebounds per game this past season.

Though heralded as a long range specialist, he never shot better than 39% from beyond the arc in his two years as a Buckeye. He had arguably the most important game of his Ohio State career a few weeks prior against Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament when he finished with 12 points off the bench.

According to a report from Bucknuts' Alex Gleitman, ADV will enter into a multiyear deal with Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia, which will pay him in the neighborhood of $300,000 over that period. Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia are expected to pick up the 100,000 Euros (~$137,000) buyout owed to to Novipiu Casale Monferrato, the Italian professional club who previously owned Della Valle's rights.

Best of luck to the one-time write-in candidate for USG's presidency in the next chapter of his life.