After almost a year of competition in Ukraine’s Superleague, former University of Portland point guard Pooh Jeter is back in United States for another shot at the Las Vegas Summer League.

Jeter, 24, will suit up for the Minnesota Timberwolves alongside former UCLA forward Kevin Love and ex-Duck guard Bryce Taylor.

As a Pilot, the 5-11 Jeter led the team in scoring his junior and senior years and finished his career as the school’s second-all time leading scorer.

After playing for the Kings’ summer league team in 2006, Jeter was selected 27th overall by the Colorado 14ers in NBA’s Developmental League draft. He averaged 14.4 points per game for the 14ers and spent the summer playing for the D-League Ambassadors, averaging 10.8 points and 2.0 assists in the Stankovic Cup, an international event played in China.

In August, he signed with BC Kyiv.

“My first year experience in Europe was great,” says Jeter, from Gardena, Calf. “I really enjoyed my time in Ukraine. Having a driver, a cook and a maid was real cool.”

After posting 11.8 points per game for BC Kyiv, Jeter earned a spot in the Superleague All-Star game.

“This is my second year being a professional basketball player, and I made history playing in two first-ever all star games,” Jeter says. “Last year, in the first-ever All Star game in the NBA D-League, and this year, in Ukraine.”

While in Ukraine, Jeter missed “everything about the U.S.,” from the food to the weather.

“There were five Americans on my team and other people from different countries,” he says. “Everybody on my team and in the organization speaks English, so that made my transition a lot easier.”

Jeter, whose birth name is Eugene Jeter III, also fielded questions about the origins of “Pooh.”

“People ask me about my nickname all the time,” Jeter says. “Ukrainians knew Winnie the Pooh, which was great. They would laugh at first, but they loved it.”

When he returned to the U.S. in the spring, Jeter got to work in the weight room and on the basketball court.

Jeter also followed the progress of his sister, Carmelita Jeter, at U.S. Olympic track and field trials in Eugene. Carmelita Jeter, 29, qualified for the finals in 100 and the 200 meters and placed sixth in the 200.

Even though he participated in the Toronto Raptors’ mini-camp, Jeter decided to play for Minnesota’s summer-league team.

“I worked out with Toronto last year in mini-camp, and I really did well in mini camp, so they invited me back this year,” Jeter says. “I was going to play summer league with them, and Minnesota was interested, too.

“So when I found out that Toronto was going to bring back some point guards, I just went to Minnesota.

The T-Wolves have only one other point guard on their 10-player summer-league roster —former Michigan State standout Drew Neitzel.

While in Las Vegas, Jeter also is teaming up with some familiar faces.

“I met Kevin Love when he was high school at Lake Oswego,” he says. “I knew back then that he would be a great player, because he knew the game so well.”

Jeter has also seen Taylor — a fellow Californian — in action.

“I’ve been playing against Bryce Taylor since my senior of high school,” Jeter says. “Then, in college, we played against U of O every year.”

Minnesota’s summer league opener versus the Dallas Mavericks tips off Monday at 7 p.m. PT.

While his ultimate goal is to sign with an NBA team, Jeter isn’t ruling out a return to Europe.

“I have a lot of options for both (Europe or the NBA), but I’m really trying to focus on summer league,” he says.

Wherever Jeter ends up, he says he won’t forget the friendships he made in Portland with local players such as former Jefferson High guard Aaron Miles and Grant grad Brandon Brooks.

“I enjoyed everything about Portland,” Jeter says. “Portland is my second home.”