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The United States and Iran cut diplomatic ties during the 1979 hostage crisis, and relations between the two countries today can only be described as tense. But that didn't stop a sharp-shooting U.S. basketball player from winding up his professional career in the Islamic republic.

Kevin Sheppard -- a six-foot point guard who competed internationally for 10 years after playing college ball -- was one of 13 Americans recruited by the Iranian Super League in the fall of 2008.

He joined Iran's only non-government-sponsored team, in the cultural center of Shiraz, mostly "out of curiosity" -- and immediately fell in love with the country.

"Iran was beautiful," Sheppard said. "I saw something I'd never really seen on the news, heard from people or read in the newspaper."

What he saw was the generosity of the people -- they treated him to dinners, took him on tours of historic landmarks and welcomed him, a non-Muslim from the West, into their homes.

A native of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Sheppard starred in both basketball and soccer for Jacksonville University in Florida. He decided to pursue a professional basketball career overseas, excelling as a shooter and playmaker on teams from Cuba and Venezuela to Australia and Israel.