WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Former Wake Forest forward Aaron Rountree is currently in search of a Slovak version of Rosetta Stone.

That’s because the Wilson, N.C. native has just signed his first professional contract, with MBK Lučenec in the top Slovakian basketball league.

“I got the offer and thought it was a good chance to start my pro career,” Rountree told Deacons Illustrated last weekend while watching the CP3 Live AAU event at D1 Sports Training.

Rountree just returned from a tour of China, and had signed with Power to Win Sports, an agency based in North Carolina.

“I know absolutely nothing about Slovakia. The team I’ve signed to just won the Pro B division, so they move up to the Pro A division,” Rountree said. “This will be their first year in Pro A, so I’ve excited they thought enough of me to have me come in and help them compete at the higher level.”

Rountree scored 6.2 points and grabbed 5.2 rebounds a game for Iona in his final collegiate season, after transferring from Wake Forest after completing his degree.

“It gave me a chance to play at the highest level, and to play in front of scouts, playing on a team with A.J. English,” Rountree said. “It’s gave me an opportunity to play pretty much the whole game, and it was a chance to showcase different parts of my game in that offensive system.”

He feels the year at Iona helped him further develop his game, with the extra minutes available to him on the court.

“I’m a much better shooter than I ever was a Wake,” Rountree said. “At Wake I had a tendency to try to do too much because I was so excited just to be in the game, and I often gambled for steals too much. I understand the game so much more now.”

Despite transferring as a graduate student, Rountree said the relationships he built at Wake Forest remain as strong as ever.

“I miss the guys. I loved everything about Wake, and loved the coaches. Me and coach Manning have a great relationship, in fact I just worked his basketball camp,” he said. “I missed everything about Wake, but just thought I needed a change of pace. I still love Wake. I have my degree from Wake. I still cheer for Wake and I still play pickup with the guys. I’m excited to see what they do in the future.”

Rountree leaves for Slovakia on August 15, and will begin a seven-and-a-half month long regular season. He plans to be back in Winston-Salem for the summer.

The question remains: Will chants of “TREE-FENCE” soon be resonating through Slovakian basketball arenas?

“I hope that translates to Slovak,” Rountree said with a laugh.