OREM—Former Utah Valley men's basketball standout Blaze Nield has signed a professional overseas contract with KK Akademija FMP in Skopje, North Macedonia.
 
Nield joins Trey Woodbury as the second Utah Valley player from last season's WAC championship team to sign a professional contract. 
 
"I'm grateful for the time I spent at UVU the memories, relationships, and accomplishments will last forever," said Nield. "I was so lucky to be able to learn from great coaches like Coach (Todd) Phillips and (Todd) Okeson to help prepare me to make this transition to the pros."
 
KK Navico Akademija FMP was founded in 2013 and has been part of the Macedonian First League since the 2019-20 season. Last season, the squad was promoted to the Delasport BIBL League. 
 
Nield helped lead Utah Valley to a pair of WAC regular season championships (2020-21 and 2022-23) in his three seasons with the Wolverines (2020-23). Nield played in 91 games and made 51 starts for UVU, averaging 5.2 points, 2.9 assists, and 1.7 rebounds per game over his career. He started all 32 games for UVU during the 2021-22 season, averaging 6.9 points, 3.0 assists, and 2.3 rebounds a game. 
 
Nield helped UVU to a historic 72-65 overtime win over 12th-ranked BYU at the UCCU Center in 2021 and a 75-60 win over BYU in 2022. He was a member of UVU's 2022-23 team that won a school-record 28 games and made a run to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) with wins over New Mexico, Colorado, and Cincinnati.