Jamelle Cornley has signed with B.C. Dnipro of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.

The former Penn State forward said he will fly overseas Thursday to join his new team after signing a one-year contract with an option for a second year.

"It's great. I'm so relieved right now," Cornley said. "It's a huge burden lifted off my back because it was a long process. It was almost as hard as choosing a college but I'm happy."

Cornley capped his college career by leading the Nittany Lions to the National Invitation Tourn-ament title in April, where he was named the tournament's most outstanding player despite playing with a left shoulder injury that required surgery after the season. He finished fourth in school history in both points and rebounds, scoring 1,579 points and pulling down 755 rebounds in his four-year career.

From there, he spent much of his summer rehabbing from the surgery.

"Right now it's as close to 100 percent that it's gonna be," Cornley said. "I've been playing for about a consistent three weeks now, continuing to get my rhythm back and making sure that I'm able to play how Jamelle Cornley can play."

Between the rehab and exploring his post-college options, things got hectic.

"Oh my gosh, relieved is not the word. It's just a huge burden lifted off of his shoulder," his mother, Dorcella Smith, said of Cornley signing a contract.

Smith joked that her son had been all around the world this summer without leaving Ohio.

"Every day he was going to go to Italy or he was going to Israel or he was going to Argentina or he was going to Australia. It seemed like something was in the works for all of those," Smith added.

That changed Saturday, when Cornley sat down with Columbus native Devin Green, who has been in and out of the NBA the past four years and played for Club B.C. Dnipro this past season.

Green told Cornley the pros and cons of the country, easing his mind about the transition and ultimately leading him to sign a one-year contract with a second-year option.

"I was leaning towards this decision for a long time," Cornley said, "but to hear it come from him was something that made it a done deal."

Now, Cornley's biggest challenge will be adjusting to overseas play.

Listed at a generous 6-foot-5 while at Penn State, the power forward may have to take his game to the perimeter more often as a small forward.

"I made sure that the coach knows that I've never played the small forward position," Cornley said. "However, I do have some skills to play that position, but overall I wanna make sure that he knew that I did wanna be around the basket as well."

Cornley said he's never been the type to shy away from contact and will be fine playing either position although he feels playing under the basket better suits his style.

"I need that contact in order for me to be the player that I can be."