Pepperdine adds international talent to basketball, volleyball rosters

By McKenzie Jackson · Sun Jul 26 2026

Israeli guard Oren Sahar and Australian outside hitter Killian Donovan bring professional and international experience to the Waves

The Pepperdine Waves men’s volleyball team and men’s basketball teams added some international talent to their rosters last week.

The Waves men’s basketball team announced on July 13 that Israeli guard Oren Sahar had joined their roster, and thentwo days later the Waves men’s volleyball squad said they added Australian native Killian Donovan from Sydney to their team.

New Pepperdine volleyball player Killian Donovan is shown in action with the University of Guelph. He was an Ontario University Athletics first-team all-star in Canada last season. Photo courtesy of University of Guelph

Pepperdine men’s basketball head coach Griff Aldrich is excited for Sahar to join the Waves.

“A highly talented guard, Oren possesses many of the skills we look for in recruiting our playmaking guards,” Aldrich said. “A scoring guard by nature, Oren is also a great passer and facilitator and will be another player we expect to adapt quickly into our system and style of play.”

Sahar, who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Israeli Basketball Premier League last season, is the fourth player with international professional experience to join the Pepperdine basketball team since Aldrich became the team’s coach in March.

Sahar, a 6-foot-4 guard from Tel Aviv known for his shooting ability and energy, played for Israel in the July 11-19 FIBA Euro U20 Championships. He averaged 15.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists against Romania, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Sahar also competed in the EuroLeague with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He scored 4.6 points a contest, while hitting 35% of his 3-pointers in limited minutes in 18 games last season.

Sahar played with Israel in the 2024 FIBA Euro U18 Championship and then starred for his country in last summer’s FIBA U19 World Cup, tallying 17.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3 assists in six games. The guard led Israel to a seventh-place finish in 16-team competition.

Sahar was promoted to Maccabi Tel Aviv’s first team before last season’s tipoff. He previously played two years for Maccabi Tel Aviv-Shoham in the third division.

Pepperdine finished last season with a 9-23 record.

New Pepperdine men's basketball recruit Oren Sahar is shown playing for Israel in this month's FIBA Euro U20 Championships. Sahar also competed in the EuroLeague with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Photo courtesy of FIBA

The 6-foot-4 volleyball player Donovan transferred to Pepperdine from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. The outside hitter played 111 sets across 34 matches, averaging 3.05 kills a set — tops in the Ontario University Athletics league last season. Donovan also tallied 31 service aces, had a .241 hitting percentage, and was named to U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian.

Donovan, who played two seasons north of the border, also played matches for the U20 Australian Men’s Volleyball Team in several events and is a member of the country’s U19 men’s beach volleyball team.

The Waves finished last season with a 24-7 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships.