Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Ulm rosters breakdown - Group A
The Adidas NextGen EuroLeague's third stop will be great as ex-champs Barcelona and Zalgiris highlight the field playing in Ulm for the first time. Here is a breakdown of the rosters in Group A.
After a mini-break, the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague once again takes center stage on the continent with the third leg of its tour with eight teams battling in southwest Germany at the NextGen Ulm tournament - the first time Europe’s elite youth club competition will be played in Ulm. The fantastic Orange Campus will be the location of the games from February 7 to 9 with the teams battling for a ticket to the NextGen EuroLeague Finals, which will be played the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four from May 23-25 in Abu Dhabi. The field includes former champions FC Barcelona and Zalgiris Kaunas but LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne will be looking to win the tournament as will hosts ratiopharm ulm and the selection Next Gen Team Ulm.
This piece is a breakdown of the four teams in Group A. The other three teams competing in the event are ALBA Berlin, Dubai Basketball and Olympiacos Piraeus. Group A has Ulm, ASVEL, Dubai and Zalgiris.
Despite two NextGen tournaments having been played, only Mega MIS Belgrade has locked up a ticket for the Finals for taking first place at NextGen Istanbul. Next Gen Team Munich won the event in Munich in mid-January but will not be playing at the Finals.
ratiopharm ulm
Ulm made history last season by taking first place at the NextGen Dubai tournament, becoming the first German team to win a qualifying event in the competition’s long history. Ulm ended up losing their three games at the Finals but no one can take away the Dubai crown. This will be the first time Ulm are hosting a NextGen event, with the games being played at the Orange Campus, which opened before the 2020-21 season. This is the eighth straight appearance in the competition for Ulm.
Ulm won the German U16 JBBL crown in 2022 - with the 2006 generation - and then reached the JBBL Final Four again in 2024. They suffered a heart-breaking defeat to ALBA Berlin in the Semi-Finals though, wasting a 17-point fourth quarter lead before losing 86-83 in OT. The two leaders of that team are on this Ulm squad - Teo Milicic and Kayaan Yeboah
The motto for this Ulm team should be “All in the family”. A majority of the players have some family connection in the basketball world. This Ulm group of players is a mix of two teams - ratiopharm ulm and the Orange Academy - with the 2007-born players playing for Ulm and the younger generations playing for the Academy. Many of the players will be competing in their third NextGen season.
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Teo Milicic makes his NextGen debut as the 2008-born member of the Milicic family. His father Igor Milicic is the Polish national team head coach while his older brother Igor Milicic Jr plays for Tennessee in the NCAA and with the Polish senior national team, and 2006-born brother Zoran Milicic plays for Ulm and was in the NextGen tournament last year. Teo, who has yet to play officially for a national team as he decides between Poland and Germany, helped Ulm reach the U16 Semi-Finals last season, totalling 30 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, 7 steals and 9 turnovers as the team lost a 17-point fourth quarter lead and fell in OT to ALBA Berlin. Milicic this season is averaging 18.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.5 steals in the NBBL and 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists in the Regionalliga fourth division.
Jervis Scheffs is playing in his third NextGen season as he had 13.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in Dubai. Scheffs came to Ulm in 2022 from Bonn/Rhöndorf and for two summers has played a big role in Germany’s youth national teams (7.7 points, 1.3 assists at FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and 7.4 points, 2.3 assists at FIBA U17 World Cup 2024). This season the athletic wing is totalling 10.6 points, 2.1 rebounds in his second season in the ProB third division as well as 12.0 points, 2.9 assists in the NBBL.
Endurance Aiyamenkhue is an intriguing big man considering he only started basketball in 2022. He came to Ulm in 2023 from Netherlands club Millennium Basketball Club Amstelveen (MBCA). He totalled 5.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks last season in the NextGen events and after playing at the U16 national team level in 2023 he picked up 8.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024, Division B. This season, Aiyamenkhue has averaged 7.2 points 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in his second year in the ProB to go with 9.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks at the U19 level.
Niko Jerkic will be playing his third NextGen campaing after 5.0 points and 1.7 rebounds at last year’s Finals. He picked up 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds as Croatia won the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023, Division B. He is scoring 6.2 points in the ProB and totalling 20.4 points and 5.4 rebounds at the U19 level.
Niko’s younger brother is 2010-born Roko Jerkic, who has 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in two NBBL games and 26.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals at the U16 level. While Niko played for Croatia, Roko competed for Germany at the XXVII Torneo Internacional Villa de Iscar U16 tournament from December 5-8 in Spain. Roko had starred for Croatia at the U14 I Feel Slovenia Ball Tournament in Slovenj Gradec in August 2024 and was named as the MVP. But Germany appear to have convinced him to change allegiances.
Oliver Kullamäe has already been a known entity in the NextGen EuroLeague as the Estonian is playing his third season. He has averaged 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in his 11 games over two qualifying tournaments plus the Finals last season. Kullamäe is the son of former Estonian veteran national team star Gert Kullamäe and the younger brother of Kristian Kullamäe. Oliver came to Ulm in 2022 from Audentese in Estonia. He is playing his third NextGen season and had 5.3 points and 5.0 rebounds at the Finals. He collected 12.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023, Division B and then had 10.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and a tournament high 9.6 assists at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024, Division B. Kullamäe is averaging 7.7 points and 2.5 assists in the ProB and 5.7 points and 5.0 assists in the NBBL.
Yanu Slingerland is playing basketball for just his second season - that will be hard to believe when you see him play - but the 2008-born Netherlands talent has a great feel for the game. That comes from his background in Korfball.
This is from my review of the 2024 JBBL Final Four. Slingerland is a German U16 champion as he helped EWE Oldenburg to the title in 2024, beating ALBA Berlin 84-82 in the JBBL Final. Slingerland collected 22 points, 18 rebounds and 8 steals in the title game after he had 27 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals in the Semi-Finals. After averaging 12.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks at the U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B for Netherlands he moved to Ulm and is playing this season with Orange Academy in the NBBL and he is contributing 15.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.4 steals.
Milo Murray is a Great British-German wing who came to Ulm in 2022 from Richmond Knights. This will be his third NextGen season and he has 1.5 points in 10 games. He decided to play for Germany last summer and averaged 2.8 points and 1.4 rebounds at the U17 World Cup. He is totalling 4.0 points, 2.3 rebounds in the ProB and 11.2 points, 3.3 rebounds in the NBBL.
Giuliano Aufiero came to Ulm in 2024 from FC Bayern Munich, with whom he averaged 4.8 points last season in the NBBL. Aufiero was invited to the German U17 national team camp in December 2023. He is totalling 7.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals this season in the NBBL.
Kayaan Yeboah is a former player from TuS Licherfelde and BTK Berlin Tiger in Berlin and is collecting 13.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.1 steals in the U19 league for Orange Academy. In the 2024 JBBL Semi-Finals loss to Berlin, he had 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Noah Stansbury Daleiden is the son of former NBA player Terrence Stansbury and came to Ulm in 2023 from CFBB Luxembourg. Daleiden was injured and could not play in the 2024 German U16 JBBL Semi-Finals. He had 4.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists last summer at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B for Luxembourg and is contributing 8.1 points this season in the NBBL.
Felix Kiehlneker had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the JBBL Semi-Finals loss to Berlin and has 9.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks this year in the NBBL.
Clemens Sokolov will be competing as an invite player from FIT/One Würzburg Baskets. He had 2.0 points and 2.7 rebounds at the U17 World Cup last summer and this year has totalled 3.8 points 2.8 rebounds in the ProB and 10.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in the NBBL.
Jett Beard is a 2009-born prospect who arrived in Ulm in 2023 from White Wings Hanau. He has 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in the JBBL. The 2009-born Latvian Gustavs Brutans, who joined the German side last year from DNS Riga, has racked up 13.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.4 steals in the JBBL. Mika Ullsperger is scoring 4.3 points in the NBBL.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
ASVEL will be coming to Ulm hoping to win their second qualifying event following the NextGen Belgrade title in 2022. The French side, which is owned by former France and San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, will have some intriguing talent. This is the club’s 11 appearance and eighth straight. They lost the first place game at Patras 2023 and went 2-2 for fourth place at Dubai last season.
Adam Atamna will be playing at his third NextGen tournament after he picked up 9.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in two games in Dubai. After dominating the U21 league last season at age 16, he was sent to play this season with LyonSO in the third division NM1 and is averaging 9.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists. He played for France at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and won bronze as he averaged 6.3 points and 1.7 assists.
Theo Guedegbe averaged 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals at the NextGen Dubai last year. This season with the U21 team, he picked up 9.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.3 steals. The athletic guard, who won the U18 French title in 2023, helped France to third place at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and then tallied 2.7 points and 1.2 assists at the FIBA U17 World Cup 2024.
One of the most anticipated players in the tournament will be Adrien Isaac Porra, a 2008-born American-Mexican, who just arrived in France recently. A native of Avondale in the Phoenix, Arizona suburbs, Isaac Porras made history last summer as he played for Mexico - his mother’s homeland - at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 Puerto Rico to become the youngest player in an OQT at 15 years, 7 months and 9 days. Isaac Porra only started playing basketball in 2021 and also has had exposure on the international level playing at the NBA Academy Games in July 2024.
Philibert Loussavouvou will be playing his third NextGen tournament after he had 3.5 points and 5.0 rebounds last season in Dubai. He helped ASVEL reach the U17 French final last season and was on the ASVEL team to win the U18 title in 2023. This year he is averaging 5.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists in the U21 league and in a U18 game against Monaco in early January had 26 points and 16 rebounds.
Appolinaire Loussavouvou is Philibert’s 2008-born younger brother and he had 2 points and 2 rebounds in 15 minutes over 4 games in last season’s NextGen Dubai. He is averaging 3.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the U21 league and he had a monster game against Monaco in the U18 league in early January with 33 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Appolinaire helped ASVEL win the 2023 U15 championship. There is another brother coming up with 2010-born Luflore Loussavouvou.
Marvyn Wade will be playing his second NextGen tournament after 8.2 points and 2.2 steals in Dubai. The 2008-born talent had 8 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal in his first U21 game on January 11. Wade helped France win the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 with 5.1 points.
Melvin Dubuc will be making his NextGen debut. He spent two seasons at Nanterre before moving to ASVEL this off-season and is averaging 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in the U21 league. Dubuc played for Romania at two FIBA U16 EuroBaskets - reaching the Semi-Finals in 2023 - and then had 7.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 despite being a year younger. Dubuc was born in Paris but his mother and grandmother are both Romanian.
The 2009-born Senegalese wing Cherif Ndiaye joined ASVEL in 2022 from an academy in Dakar and won the French U15 title with ASVEL in 2023. Ndiaye, who stands 2.04m and has a wingspan of 2.20m, started playing basketball at around 3-4 years.
Christopher Goder, a 2.11m center, has compiled 8 points and 9 rebounds in 87 minutes over 15 games in the U21 league. Goder is still a raw project who comes from the Nantes region.
Stanley Risal, a 2008-born center, will be debuting in the competition and is contributing 2.3 points and 1.6 rebounds in the U21 league. Risal hails from the island of Martinque off the coast of Puerto Rico near Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Guadeloupe. This won’t the first NextGen tournament with a connection to the island of about 350,000 people about 6,900 kilometers away from Paris. Noah Koussou also played at the Martininque Basketball Center and had 2.0 points and 1.0 rebounds for Cholet Basket at the NextGen Podgorica. Koussou actually faced Risal in the French U17 final and claimed the trophy with Cholet over Risal and ASVEL. Another Martinique connection was Paris Basketball’s talent Hugo Nguyen’s mother’s family hails from the island nation. EuroLeague and France international superstar Mathias Lessort is also from Risal’s hometown of Fort-de-France. And former French women’s superstar Sandrine Gruda was also born on Martinique. Risal joined ASVEL in the summer of 2023.
The 2009-born forward Arthur Gruszka has appeared in four U21 league games. On January 28, he had 25 points with 5 triples, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in a U18 game. Gruszka joined ASVEL from Cannet Cote d’Azur this past off-season after placing fourth in scoring in the U15 level with 24.9 points per game. He was pre-selected for the French U15 national team last summer.
Keziah Pierre Nicolas, another 2009-born player, has played in three U21 league games. Last year he averaged 16.9 points for Charenton in the U15 league and joined ASVEL over the summer.
The 2008-born guard Benjamin Ruol has played in two U21 games this season, his ninth with the ASVEL system - though he spent the 2022-23 campaign on loan at LyonSO. He missed most of 2022-23 and all of last season with injuries.
Dubai Basketball
Dubai will be making their second appearance after debuting as hosts last year. There will only be one player back from last season when they finished 8th with a 1-3 record - the team’s historic win coming against eventual qualifying tournament winners ratiopharm ulm.
Emmanouil Manolopoulos has NextGen experience after averaging 4.8 points and 2.0 assists last season in Dubai. The Greek point guard averaged 11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the U19 ABA League.
Tomislav Vuckovic is a 2008-born Croatian, who averaged 8.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 3.3 steals in the U19 ABA League. Vuckovic came from KA Mrav Zagreb in the off-season and had 14.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 blocks for Croatia at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, but couldn’t keep Croatia from begin relegated. Before moving to BC Dubai this mid-season, the Zagreb native averaged 25.4 points a game in Croatian U17 league with Mrav Basketball Academy. Vuckovic has also played for KK Split and Cedevita Olimpija.
Italian Edoardo Colella collected 3.3 points and 1.3 assists in the U19 ABA League. The Rome native started in the NBA Basketball School, Dubai in 2019. And he has played for the Al-Nasr club and this is his first season with Falcons.
Gustavs Vilcans is a 2010-born Latvian who picked up 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 9 minutes in the U19 ABA League. Vilcans hails from Ogres about 20 kilometers outside of Riga. Last season he averaged 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds for BS Ogre in the U14 league in the European Youth Basketball League and 14.2 points and 6.0 rebounds in the U15 division.
The Dubai team includes three players who are with Cacak 94 - Lazar Maksic, Bogdan Zekavica and Stefan Jerkic - all three Serbians with Jerkic being born in 2007 and the others in 2008.
Lazar Maksic came to Cacak 94 from Mladost Zemun in 2024 and has two appearances in the first division while averaging 5.1 points and 3.3 assists in the U19 JLS. Maksic won the Serbian U15 championship. Maksic is averaging 13.4 points adn 5.2 assists in the Serbian U17 KLS league.
Bogdan Zekavica also won the U15 championship with Maksic and came to Cacak from Zemun and has made three appearances in the top flight and is averaging 10.9 points and 5.0 rebounds in the U19 league - including 31 points and 10 rebounds against BKK Radnicki in late December. He is dominating the cadet U17 KLS with 26.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists, including two games of 36 points.
Stefan Jerkic, who towers over competition at 2.13 meters, came to Cacak from Zvornik and just signed a professional contract with the club on January 27. He has played in one game in the pro league and is averaging 8.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in the U19 league. He has only been playing basketball about 2.5 years.
Ognjen Gujic is a Serbian big man who played two seasons with Dynamic before moving this off-season to FMP, where he has made his debut in the ABA League and averaged 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds in the ABA U19 league. He is totalling 7.5 points and 7.9 rebounds in the Serbian U19 league. He has not played an official FIBA event for Serbia but he did play at the U16 European Youth Olympic Festival in Banska Bistrica 2022 alongside Ognjen Srzentic, Pavle Backo, Djordje Sekularac, Vasilije Stojic and Daris Sijaric.
Eman Jasarevic is a Bosnia and Herzegovina big man who averaged 12.4 points and 9.7 rebounds at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023, Division B. He is playing for KK Bosna after coming to the club from BIH club Buducnost Bijeljina
Dubai will also have a trio of Africans. Diop Amath and Bacary Doucoure are two 2010-born players from Senegal. Like Amath, Doucoure was also at the Seed Academy but also played at the NBA Africa Showcase Africa. Miguel Bandaka is a 2008-born forward from Central African Republic, who is one of the country’s top talents. He was playing in the U18 teams for French side Ada Blois Basket in 2022-23.
Zalgiris Kaunas
Zalgiris and the NextGen EuroLeague go together like peanut butter and chocolate - two great tastes that taste great together. The Lithuanian powerhouse have never missed the tournament - playing in all 23 seasons. Zalgiris won the first ever title in 2003 and added a second crown in 2007. The only other clubs with two trophies are Real Madrid (5), CSKA Moscow (3), Rytas Vilnius (2) INSEP Paris (2) and FMP Belgrade (2). Zalgiris also reached the NextGen Championship Game in 2005, 2006 and 2011. Zalgiris famously lost to ratiopharm ulm in the NextGen Dubai first-place game with Noa Essengue putting together a game for the ages for Ulm.
Dovydas Buika is probably the biggest name for most people as he has starred for Lithuania at the national team - collecting 14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024. That came after he played at two FIBA U16 EuroBaskets, including picking up 7.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists despite being a year younger at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2022, where Lithuania won the title with Kasapars Jakucionis, Nojus Indrusaitis and Mantas Laurencikas. Buika averaged 11.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists at the NextGen Dubai tournament last season. This season he is averaging 15.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assist and 1.8 steals in Lithuanian second division NKL.
Ignas Stombergas has a famous surname as the son of former Lithuanian legend Saulius Stombergas. The 2008-born youngster starred for Lithuania at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 with 10.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks - ranking second in rebounds and first in blocks in the tournament. This year Ignas is averaging 5.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in the second division NKL and 16.9 points and 9.3 rebounds in the third division RKL.
Dominykas Daubaris did not play in the NextGen EuroLeague last season after getting into 2 games in 2022-23 in Munich. The forward big man had averaged 7.0 points and 4.7 rebounds at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 but then missed all of last season with a knee injury that also cost him a chance to play at the FIBA U17 World Cup 2024. He has returned this season and is averaging 5.3 points and 2.1 rebounds in the NKL second division.
Dovydas Jakstonis will be playing in his first NextGen event but he has already played for Lithuania with 8.7 points and 6.6 rebounds at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024. And he is averaging 7.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in the RKL.
Zalgiris have a number of players back from their Dubai team who will be motivated to win the qualifying tournament. Majus Bulanovas averaged 7.5 points and 3.8 rebounds in Dubai and totaled 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in the U17 World Cup last summer. This season he is scoring 6.1 points in the NKL and totaling 17.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in the RKL. Kajus Mikalauskas picked up 6.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in Dubai and 12.1 points and 2.6 assists at the U17 World Cup and is scoring 14.2 points in the third division.
Zalgiris have two foreign-born players and both of them have played in the NextGen event in the past. Latvian Ilja Kurucs is the younger brother of Rodions and Arturs Kurucs - and he played in Dubai last year while he was with GBA Academy. Ilja took the summer off the Latvian youth national team and moved to Zalgiris and is contributing 2.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in the NKL.
Maksim Brnovic meanwhile had 4.5 points for SC Derby Podgorica last season at the NextGen Podgorica stop. He moved this off-season to Zalgiris and is picking up 6.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in the third division. He totaled 10.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 steals for Montenegro at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B.
Galius Cerneckis is an interesting story as a summer addition to Zalgiris. He had 4.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 and is picking up 6.1 points and 1.8 assists in the third division. Cerneckis was with Vilniaus Krepsinio Mokykla but he also attended the Europe Basketball Academy and participated in many tournaments with the institution.
Dominykas Urbonavicius is dominating in the Lithuanian league with 14.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists in three games including a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in December against Marijampoles. And Dominykas Grunkis is averaging 18.4 points, 4.3 rebounes and 5.1 assists in the RKL.
Martynas Barzdaitis is averaging 20.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists in the U18 league; Nojus Mistautas has totaled 7.9 points, 3.2 rebounds in the third division and Jokubas Sablinskas is contributing 7.4 points and 8.8 rebounds in the U18 league.
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