His first trip to the United States was not New York or Los Angeles, but Stillwater, Okla., population just under 50,000.
“It’s a different culture,” said Guetta, the 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 team,” Guetta said. “I’m definitely a fan of OSU football. Next year will be better for them.”
Guetta, age 22, and the Cowboys will host the defending NCAA runner-up Houston Cougars on Saturday, March 7, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. It will be Guetta’s first time facing the Cougars who are led by Israeli citizen Emmanuel Sharp, whom the JHV featured last season.
In addition to the cultural change, Guetta, who’s appeared in eight games this winter, is also adjusting to the different style of basketball between Israel and the United States.
“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, OSU has 50 Jewish students in a student body of 20,792. There’s no synagogue or Chabad in town, but a small Hillel exists on campus. He knows only one other Jewish student, Adisu Guadie, who is a national champion distance runner on the OSU track and field team.
Guetta, through connections his father made, finds a taste of home with something of a host family in Oklahoma City, about an hour away. He’s 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 1 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 an opportunity to sign with smaller Division 1 programs.
“If I leave my country and my friends, I want to play at the highest level,” he said.
In July 2023, Guetta helped lead the Israeli Junior National Team to a silver medal in Greece. He had the opportunity to play against his now OSU teammate, Lefteris “Lefty” Mantzoukas of Greece.
Guetta was in Oklahoma for fewer than 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 in the morning. For these families, seeing their sons and daughters for the first time in two and a half years is something you cannot imagine.”