PITTSBURGH — The New York Post profiled Chaim Galbut on Monday, highlighting the 19-year-old Orthodox Jewish basketball player from Miami as he prepares to begin a rare Division I career at Duquesne University.

Galbut, a 6-foot-7 forward, is expected to become one of the few Orthodox Jewish players to compete at the Division I level while maintaining strict religious observance, including wearing a yarmulke and observing the Jewish Sabbath.

His observance means he will be unable to participate in games or team activities that take place during Shabbat, from Friday evening through Saturday evening.

The Post reports that Galbut spent a gap year in Jerusalem studying Talmud while continuing to pursue basketball. He had not received a Division I offer when he graduated high school in 2025.

His opportunity came after he joined JDS Elite, an AAU program that gives Jewish day school players exposure to higher-level competition and college scouts.

Duquesne assistant coach Chase Goldstein became interested after seeing Galbut’s highlight video. The Post reports that Goldstein viewed Galbut’s recruitment as an opportunity to demonstrate what an Orthodox Jewish athlete could accomplish at the highest level of college basketball.

Galbut ultimately chose Duquesne over continuing at Yeshiva University, where he would have faced fewer conflicts between basketball and Sabbath observance.

“I’m a basketball player and I’m a Jew. Not one or the other,” Galbut said, according to the Post.

His demanding routine includes morning prayers, basketball practice, online classes, Talmud study and additional workouts.

The Post reports that Galbut is expected to be the first yarmulke-wearing, Sabbath-observant player on a Division I men’s basketball team since Tamir Goodman played at Towson in 2001.

For Galbut, the challenge is about more than making history. He hopes to demonstrate that his religious commitments and basketball ambitions can coexist.

“I’m a basketball player and I’m a Jew,” he said. “Not one or the other.”