Dazzling Dozen: 12 Basketball Champions League prospects to watch in 2021-22
Dazzling Dozen: 12 Basketball Champions League prospects to watch in 2021-22
Here are a dozen talents born 2000 and later to keep an eye on for the 2021-22 Basketball Champions League season, which tips off on October 4.
This list breaks down by teams 12 of the top youngsters who will be competing in the Basketball Champions League this season. If you like this content and other material on the Taking The Charge substack, make sure you subscribe so you will not miss any articles.
BAXI Manresa
Marcis Steinbergs 2001
The Latvian forward is in his third full season in Spain and first after moving in the off-season to Manresa from Herbalife Gran Canaria, where he first arrived in March 2019. The 2.08 forward was part of the Latvian team that won silver at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018 - along with Arturs Zagars and Arturs Kurucs - and played at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019. Last season he collected 10.3 point and 4.7 rebounds in the Spanish LEB Silver third division. Steinbergs has already played double figures minutes twice this season for Manresa in the Spanish league, picking up 7 points against Real Betis.
Besiktas Icrypex
Furkan Haltali 2002
Haltali will be playing in the BCL for his second season after averaging 2.5 points and 2.7 rebounds for Bandirma in 2019-20. The 2.07 center was part of Bandirma’s talent sell-off to Bestikas in 2020 and he averaged 5.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 32 Turkish league games, shooting 67 percent from the field. Haltali got a boost in confidence last summer when he collected 10.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists for Turkey at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021.
Falco Szombathely
Benedek Kovacs 2001
Adam Somogyi 2000
Somogyi actually signed this off-season with two-time reigning BCL champions Hereda San Pablo Burgos, who then sent him to Szombathely on loan for 2021-22. The point guard Somogyi, who agreed to a contract for one season plus an option for two years, has already debuted with Hungary’s senior national team - playing at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers as well as the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers. Somogyi had played two seasons in Spain before playing in 2019-20 and last season for Debreceni Egyetem in his home land, averaging 6.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 2020-21. Kovacs meanwhile will play a bigger role for Szombathely this season in the BCL after playing just one game last season. The small forward had spent the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons with AS Monaco of the French league before returning to Hungary before last season and collected 2.7 points in 29 games in the domestic league.
Filou Oostende
Mikael Jantunen 2000
Keye Van Der Vuurst 2001
Oostende continue to be a heaven-send for youth hoops followers and this season’s edition of Dario Gjergja’s team is no different. The Belgian team was the beneficiary of the University of Utah firing head coach Larry Krystkowiak as the 2000-born Mikael Jantunen decided to come back to Europe to begin his professional career. He collected 8.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists with the Utes in 20 games last season - a campaign in which he missed four games because he returned to Europe to play for Finland in the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers (where he collected 11 points and 4 rebounds against Switzerland). Point guard Keye Van Der Vuurst will be playing his third season in the BCL even though he won’t turn 20 until late December. Van Der Vuurst has put together an outstanding start to the 2021-22 season in Belgium with 9.3 points and 9.0 assists in three games - including a 12-point, 11-assist double-double against Liege - while not playing more than 23 minutes in any of those games - which were played within six days. Van Der Vuurst has already been playing for the Netherlands senior national team since 2018 as a 16 year old. As if those two talents were not enough, Oostende is absolutely loaded with interesting names. One that should be particularly watched out for is 2003-born Xander Pintelton. Others names include: Haris Bratanovic (2001), Salim Kediambiko (2001), Maarten Vandenbossche (2003) Jesse Waleson (2001).
Galatasaray NEF
Sadik Kabaca 2000
Just like Haltali, Kabaca was also part of the Bandirma sell-off to Bestikas in 2020, after having played eight games in the BCL the previous season. The 2.08 power forward collected 4.2 points and 3.1 rebounds for Besiktas in 2020-21 and then moved onto Galatasaray this off-season. He was on the fringes of making the Turkish senior national team in 2021 and he already showed his new team what he can do, picking up 12 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes of their season-opener against Buyukcekmece.
Igokea
Dalibor Ilic 2000
Ilic was one of the best young players of the BCL last season, averaging 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 59 percent on 2-pointers mostly as a 20-year-old. The 2.02 meter forward had the honor of being the Serbian national team captain of the 2000-born generation that won the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018 - along with Filip Petrusev and Marko Pecarski - and then averaged 10.9 points and 11.0 rebounds at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 - despite being a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ilic also has played for Serbia’s senior national team at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifiers. The big man will definitely be called upon to play his rock-solid game around the post.
Nutribullet Treviso
Giordano Bortolani 2000
Davide Casarin 2003
Bortolani is a story of gradual ascension through the ranks as the former Milan talent debuted in the Italian Serie A in 2017-18 as an 18-year-old and then worked his way back up, playing the majority of that season in the Serie B followed by two years in the Serie A2 with Legnano and Biella before playing once again in Italy’s top flight in 2020-21 with Brescia. The 1.93 meter point guard averaged 6.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 26 domestic games to go along with 6.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in nine EuroCup contests. Bortolani, who won’t turn 21 until December, played a huge role in getting Treviso into the BCL Regular Season, averaging 13.0 points and hitting 42.1 percent on three-pointers, 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in the BCL Qualifiers. Casarin meanwhile is playing with Treviso on loan from his childhood club Umana Reyer Venice, where he debuted in the 2018-19 season still at 15 years of age and his father Federico Casarin is club president. Davide helped Italy to bronze at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2019 and missed a chance to play at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2020, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Casarin was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade in 2019. He played exclusively with Reyer’s pro team last season, collecting 2.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 36 games in the Italian league while also tallying 5.7 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the EuroCup. Despite the fact that he will play almost the entire season at 18, Casarin averaged 17.7 minutes in the BCL Qualifiers, collecting 2.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals.
Tofas Bursa
Berke Buyuktuncel 2004
Buyuktuncel is one a couple of highly regarded talents in the system but apparently the only one who will really be in the mix for playing time with Tofas’ top team this season. The 2.02 meter forward got in four Turkish games last season and also played at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament and averaged 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks. Buyuktuncel had a strong summer playing in two competitions: first off the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021, where he collected 6.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 steals despite being only 16 years old. He then faced an even older generation at the FIBA U20 European Challengers 2021 in Turkey and dominated to the tune of 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.0 blocks. Buyuktuncel will play the entire 2021-22 season at 17 years of age. And it seems he will get his chance as he played 10 minutes in Tofas’ opener against Turk Telekom Ankara, though he went scoreless and grabbed 1 rebound. Tofas’ top talent might be the 2003-born Ege Demir, who along with the 2003-born Batin Tuna will be playing for Gemlik Basketbol in the Turkish second division in cooperation with Tofas.
Unicaja Malaga
Yannick Nzosa 2003
Nzosa is considered one of the top international prospects for the 2022 NBA Draft as the athletic and versatile forward from the Democratic Republic of Congo is spending his second full season with Unicaja Malaga’s pro team, even though he won’t turn 18 until November 15. The slender 2.06 meter Nzosa, started his European adventure with the Stellazzurra Rome Academy in Italy and moved to Unicaja in 2019 but did not play much in the 2019-20 season. He then collected 4.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in the Spanish league last season and 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 16 EuroCup games - including games of 13 points and 5 rebounds versus Nanterre and 16 points, 3 rebounds and 4 blocks against eventual champions Monaco late in the season.
Other names:
Norris Agbakoko, Oldenburg: Eray Akyuz, Darussafaka; Michael Belle, Strasbourg; Modibo Diaby, Cluj; Ousmane Diop, Sassari; Stefan Grasu, Cluj; Lukas Herzog, Ludwigburg; Lubos Kovar, Nymburk; Anrijs Miska, Riga; Alexandros Nikolaidis, Lavrio Megabolt; Jacob Patrick, Ludwigsburg; Kareem Queeley, Burgos
What do you think? Do you think any of these guys will really stand out? Do you think someone not mentioned will make an impact? Leave a comment! Be part of the discussion!