NextGen EuroLeague Munich rosters breakdown
Who will win the NextGen season's second event? Two-time reigning continental champs Real? What about Valencia? Can hosts Bayern pull it off? All eight teams are hungry to reach the NextGen Finals.
The Adidas NextGen EuroLeague finally returns for the second leg of its tour as eight teams will face off in southern Germany at the NextGen Munich tournament. The heavy favorite is two-time reigning champions Real Madrid - the winners of five titles since 2015 - while Valencia Basket have a strong squad as well. Hosts FC Bayern Munich would love to reach the first-place game again like in 2019-20.
There are five other teams hungry to shine when it’s all said and done after three days of action - January 17-19 in Munich’s BMW Park. The tournament winner will clinch a ticket for the NextGen Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Finals in May. The first club to lock up a spot is Mega MIS Belgrade, who won the NextGen Istanbul tournament.
The eight team field in Munich also includes Aris Midea Thessaloniki, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, Next Gen Team Munich, SC Derby Podgorica and Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Below is a group breakdown and schedule.
Aris Midea Thessaloniki
Aris return to the competition for a second season after making its debut at NextGen Dubai last year and taking sixth place. The team has developed a couple of Greek national team players and can expect a better showing than last season.
Vasileios Kazamias will make his second NextGen appearance with Aris as the 1.97-meter point guard averaged 11.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists in last year’s tournament in Dubai. Kazamias has also played five games with the senior team in the BKT EuroCup and three times in the Greek League. This season with the U18 team he is averaging 14.8 points, 6 assists and 4.5 rebounds in three games, and he plays for APS Navarchos Votsis in the Greek fourth division where he tallies 17.4 points, 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds. Kazamias, who participated in the Basketball Without Borders European camp last year, got into two Greek league games last season and even had one appearance in the EuroCup in 2023-24. As part of the Greek national team, he averaged 5.0 points and 3.0 assists in the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and played at the 2024 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.
Vasileios Pourlidas was a major contributor last season in Dubai with 10.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists and this year he made it into in two Greek league games and made his EuroCup debut against Hamburg in November. Pourlidas was played at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023.
Christos Venetidis is from Aris’ 2008 generation and played a minor role last season at the NextGen Dubai and picked up 1.7 points and 1.2 assists in helping Greece reach the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024.
Petar Simeonov is spending his second season with Aris after the 2008-born Bulgarian guard joined the club from BC Balkan Botevgrad in November 2023. He collected 4.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists for Bulgaria in Division A of the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 - though the country was relegated to Division B with a 15th place.
Mstislav (Savik) Reinten was a big addition to Aris last September as the 2008-born Netherlands forward played the previous season with Barcelona’s U15 team. Last summer, Reinten had 3.2 points and 4.7 rebounds at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B.
Savvas Foullides played in the same competition last summer for Cyprus and he averaged 6.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.
Also back from the NextGen team last season are Marios Giannikos, Laokratis Vasilakis, Nikolaos Fotiadis and Thomas Kassianos. The preliminary roster also included 2008-born players Stylianos Kassianos, Filippos Bikias and Stylianos Stogiannis.
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
Cedevita is appearing for the 19th time, including the last seven and 17 of the last 18 seasons. The team finished seventh last season at the NextGen Podgorica with a 1-3 record.
Mark Morano Mahmutović will be competing in the ANGT for the third consequitive season. After averaging 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals in his debut season, he averaged 12.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in his second season. In the Slovenian third and U20 leagues, he is averaging 17.2 and 22 points, respectively. He helped Slovenia finish third at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 with 8.6 points and 3.9 rebounds.
Ian Lazarevski was one of the team’s leaders last season with 9.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in Podgorica. He collected 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in three U19 ABA League games. The forward moved from Mega Belgrade to Cedevita last season. He twice played for Slovenia at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket, tallying 15.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, a tournament high 5.2 assists and 2.5 steals in 2023.
Lovro Lapajne is another leader back from the team as he had 8.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in his first NextGen tournament. He picked up 5.0 points and 3.7 rebounds in the U19 ABA League. After two summers playing for Slovenia’s U16 national team, Lapajne collected 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds to help Slovenia finish third at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 to qualify for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025.
Aljaz Menic was also part of that Slovenian team to take third place at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 with 2.1 points and 2.7 rebounds . He totalled 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds at the 2024 Albert Schweitzer Tournament. Menic has good size at 2.07 meter and he had 7.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in the U19 ABA League.
Samba Gueye will be playing his second NextGen tournament after the 2008-born Senegalese big man had 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in Podgorica. He contributed 0.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals in the U19 ABA League games.
Cedevita will also have a German youth international as Luka Stojic played for Germany at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 and picked up 5.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.3 steals. He plays for Mladost Zagreb in the Croatian second division - averaging 5.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists - and tallied 10.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists for Cedevita in the U19 ABA League.
One of the next gems for Slovenia is 2009-born Bine Pregl, a native of Šentilj who joined Helios in 2022 and moved to Cedevita Olimpija this off-season. He recently played for Slovenia at a U16 national team event in Türkiye and averaged 14.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
Slovenian Mark Hukic contributed 2.5 points last season in Podgorica and poured in 21 points on 7 three-pointers against Spartak in the U19 ABA League.
Ardian Seba has made his way into two games in the Croatian second flight and he was a member of the Croatian team that won the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023, Division B to get the country back to Division A, chipping in 2.8 points.
The rest of the preliminary roster includes 2008-born Slovenian Oskar Kuzman as well as Ivan Pavic who has appeared in two games in the Croatian second division.
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich will be hosting a qualifying tournament for the fifth time following 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2023. Bayern is making its 10th appearance and finished fourth last season at the NextGen Podgorica. The Germans lost to Real in the 2019-20 NextGen Munich first-place game.
Bayern’s main player will be Nikos Sermpezis, who collected 8.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.8 steals last season in Podgorica. The Greek guard has taken over a lot of leadership in Bayern’s second team in the third division with 11.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals. Sermpezis is one of the next young leaders of the Greek youth ranks as well as he collected 12.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals in the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023. He also chipped in 3.3 points in the 2024 Albert Schweitzer Tournament.
Observers definitely should not miss Andrija Susic as the 2008-born Serbian will be one of Bayern’s top players in Munich. He had 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in his NextGen debut last season and is collecting 5.5 points and 1.3 assists in ProB as a 16-year-old. He helped Serbia take third place at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 with 2.7 points. Susic arrived at Bayern in June 2024 from Mladost Cacak.
Ivan Crnjac will be with Bayern as an invited player and the forward is having another great season for Frankfurt Skyliners, averaging 11.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals in the ProB and pouring in 20.7 points to go with 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals in the U19 NBBL. Crnjac helped Germany finish fifth at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 with 5.7 points and 2.6 rebounds to qualify for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024, where he tallied 7.9 points while shooting 73 percent for the tourament.
Bayern have one of the best 2009-born players in Germany in Caspar Vossenberg, who joined Bayern from ART Giants Düsseldorf in 2024. The forward will likely star alongside Real Madrid’s Fabian Kayser this summer at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2025. Vossenberg is having a strong first season with Bayern, playing for three different teams. He has picked up 5.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in the U19 NBBL while dominating with 28.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in three games in the U16 JBBL. He also has had 1.9 points in 7 minutes in 7 games in the third division ProB.
Bayern will have one of the tallest players in the competition in 2008-born Luxembourg native Namik Muratovic, who had 2.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.8 blocks last season in the NextGen tournament. The 2.15 meter big man, who has not yet played for his country, is totalling 5.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in the U19 NBBL.
Killian Fischer will be an invited player from Dresden Titans, where he is averaging 23.2 points, 13.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in the NBBL.
The 2008-born Theo Roesinger is averaging 4.5 points, 2.1 reboundsand 1.1 steals in the NBBL, and Koray Grenz had 0.8 points and 1.8 rebounds last season in the NextGen tournament.
Isayah Marcin is French and joined Bayern from Kirchheim in August 2023 and is averaging 5.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in the NBBL. Kilian Dück is a 2008-born big man who has 9.5 points and 6.9 rebounds in the NBBL, where Julian Glenewinkel has averaged 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds.
Bayern’s preliminary roster includes two 2010-born players. Marko Volf is the younger brother of Bayern’s 2006-born prospect Ivan Volf. Marko has picked up 6.5 points in the NBBL and dominated with 18.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.7 steals in the JBBL.
Robert Serbenov meanwhile is Ukrainian and appeared in two NBBL games and is averaging 10.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals in the U16 league.
One more player to note is 2009-born Tristan Shane, who has a Swiss passport and has picked up 8 points in one NBBL game and is averaging 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.2 steals in the JBBL.
Valencia Basket
Valencia has become a regular in the competition, making their 11th appearance and seventh in a row. The Spanish side finished fifth last season at the NextGen Dubai with a 2-2 record. Valencia’s team includes a number of players who were born and raised in the city of Valencia.
Javier Viguer will be making his NextGen debut. He was a star of the Spanish team that finished second at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 with 12.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He flirted with a triple-double in the Quarter-Finals as he tallied 15 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists against Italy. He is averaging 10.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in the fourth division. He was also named the MVP of the Preliminary Phase of the Minicopa Endesa in December 2021.
Pau Torrens played a major role in Valencia’s team last season in the NextGen Dubai with 9.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 setals in Dubai. The forward is one of the main leaders of Valencia’s second team with 16.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals. Torrens has not however played for Spain’s youth national team ranks.
Didac Cebolla helped Spain grab the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 with 2.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.2 steals but he was the only player from the U16 team who did not play at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024. The point guard averaged 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in Dubai and is collecting 12.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.3 steals this season in the fourth division.
Tomas Talcis hails from Lithuania but he has played with Valencia for a number of years, including in 2022 in a 3x3 event and was nominated for a Spanish 3x3 national team last year. The forward is collecting 11.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in the fourth division.
Alex Blanco splits time between the third and fourth division, averaging 4.4 points in the Segunda FEB with Godella and 12.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals in the Tercera FEB. Blanco hails from the island of Menorca off the eastern coast of Spain and signed a multi-year contract with Valencia in August 2024. He played two years with the Centre de Tecnificació de les Illes Balears (CTEIB) and then went to Fibwi Palma, with whom he played in the third division last season.
Nicolas Gomez averaged 5.2 points and 4.3 rebounds at the NextGen Dubai last season and the center had a double-double this season in the Tercera FEB versus Morvedre. He had 1.0 points and 2.5 rebounds to help Spain win silver at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2022 and contributed 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds at the FIBA U17 BasketBall World Cup 2024.
The 2008-born Daniel Osayi is averaging 7.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in the fourth division after playing last season with Islas Baleares and CB La Salle Palma. The 2.06 meter Osayi was selected to the Spanish U16 national team training camp for a tournament in March 2024 though he has not played for the country in a FIBA competition.
Pedro Bellver, who like Osayi was also born in December 2008, played at the Jr. NBA European Finals in June 2023 and is picking up 3.8 points in Valencia’s second team including scoring 13 points with 3 three-pointers against Picken Claret.
Valencia’s international contigent includes Conrado Heilmann, a 1.98 meter forward from Uruguay. Heilmann played at the FIBA U16 FIBA AmeriCup 2023 and averaged 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds a summer after picking up 6.4 points and 2.6 rebounds at the FIBA U15 South American Championship 2022. He has been in Valencia since 2020.
Marc Grau for his part contributed 0.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in three games in Dubai last season and has 4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds for Valencia’s second team. He was part of the Spain team that won silver at the FIBA U16 EuroBaskt 2024 with 3.1 points and 3.6 rebounds.
The preliminary roster also included Victor Iglesias and Jaime Valero from Valencia’s 2008-born generation.
Valencia’s preliminary roster also included four 2009-born players - all of them very intriguing and it will be exciting to see which make the trip to Munich.
Guillem Tazo was nominated for Spain’as U15 national team training camp in 2024 and last July was named as the MVP of the Jr. NBA European Finals in Valencia, where former NBA superstar Dominique Wilkins was on hand. Tazo will be one of the leaders of Spain’s U16 national team this summer. Tazo also played 3x3 U15 tournaments last year.
Roger Villarejo is a native of the Rubi district of Barcelona and joined Valencia in 2023 after playing with Barcelona at the U14 level. Villarejo, who was nominated for U15 national team training camp in 2024 and will be one of the leaders of the country’s U16 team this summer, is the younger brother of 2006-born Gerard Villarejo, who left Barcelona for Valencia in February 2023.
Valencia have another interesting Portuguese center with 2009-born Miguel Sousa - not to be confused with the 2008-born guard Miguel Sousa - both of whom played in the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B. The 2.03 meter center averaged 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12 minutes. This is not a comparison, but Ruben Prey of course is another Portuguese big man who came up through the Spanish ranks with Joventut Badalona.
Zeteny Kurfis is the other 2009-born listed. The 2.00 meter forward was a star at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B with 17.3 points and 7.4 rebounds despite being a year younger. Formerly with Honved in Hungary before coming to Spain in 2023, Kurfis actually played at the Minicopa Endesa in 2023 for Joventut Badalona. Joventut offered him a spot last season, but this will be his second season with Valencia.
GROUP B
Next Gen Team Munich
This will be the fourth season of the Next Gen selection team and the Munich side has some strong talent for head coach Dogus Balbay.
Guillermo Del Pino will be one of the Next Gen Team’s leaders as he averages 8.0 points in the Spanish third division for Coto Cordoba. The point guard, who has already appeared in one Basketball Champions League game for Unicaja Malaga, starred for Spain in helping them grab the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 with 14.6 points, 2.9 assists and 1.9 steals to win the MVP trophy. Last summer Del Pino had 11.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup.
Argentina’s versatile guard Felipe Minzer will be playing in the competition for the second time after tallying 2.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals at the 2022-23 Zadar for Zaragoza. Minzer is still with Zaragoza but is starring for El Olivar in the fourth division in Spain with 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals. Last summer was a big one for Minzer, first helping Argentina take second at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2024 with 15.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 3.2 steals. He then totalled 17.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.0 steals at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
French guard Gabriel Veras is averaging 15.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.5 steals in the French U21-B league for Antibes. Veras joined Antibes from SLUC Nancy in 2022 and just signed a pro contract with Antibes with the club acting quickly before Veras had a chance to shine on the European stage.
Spain have a long history of Brazilians starring there and it wouldn’t be a shock if Mathias Vazquez might be another down the road. The 2008-born forward is playing for Real Betis and is dominating for their second team in the fourth division with 17.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.3 blocks. Vazquez, who is the son of former player Shilton dos Santos - the third leading rebounder in NBB history - is spending his third season in Spain. He was one of Brazil’s top players at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup 2024 with 12.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.0 blocks. Vazquez has already debuted with the Brazilian senior national team in the November 2024 window for the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers, starting against Panama and picking up 2 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal.
Dorian Rinaldo Komlan has been one of the biggest revelations of the French U21 league with Limoges. The forward, who was born on December 20, 2007, averaged only 3.5 points in the first eight games of this season and has since averaged 16.6 points and 7.6 rebounds since mid-November. The native of Montauban is a long left-handed power forward who was selected to play for France at an international 3x3 tournament last August.
Reino Saivosalmi is averaging 8.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the Finnish third division for Ura basket. The 2008-born guard played summer on the continental stage and starred for Finland with 17.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 - helping the country avoid relegation to Division B.
Barking Abbey School’s Obinna Ekufu is a 2008-born player from England who is the latest British player to be selected for the NextGen competition following Emmanuel Ahamefule last year.
Sten Markus Adamson starred for Estonia last summer with 13.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in winning the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B. The 2008-born swingman plays with Audentese.
Ricards Aizpurs is a 2008-born Latvian playing with Stellazzurra Rome, who was one of his country’s leaders at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 with 18.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks.
Arminas Vilkas will be competing in the competition for the second season after he had 4.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks for Zalgiris in Dubai. He plays with Vilkaviskis and is averaging 4.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in the second division in Lithuania. Vilkas played last summer at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 and FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024.
There is another player from Unicaja’s youth ranks as Alfonso Rodriguez is averaging 3.6 points and 7.0 rebounds in the fourth division. The 2008-born forward had 5.7 points and 6.3 rebounds as Spain took second place at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024.
Dimitrios Ntapsis is playing in his second NextGen event after contributing Greece 2023-24 Paris with Olympiacos 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds for Olympiacos at last season Paris event. Ntapsis, who had 2.6 points and 3.4 rebounds at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023, is currently playing for Panionios.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid has dominated this competition in the last decade, reaching the NextGen EuroLeague Championship Game in 2014 and then winning the title the following year and added crowns in 2019, 2021, 2023 and last year. Real will be competing in the event for the 18th straight season and has won its qualifying tournament in each of the last 11 campaigns. Even though stars like Hugo Gonzalez, Egor Demin, Mitar Bosnjakovic and Ismaila Diagne have all graduated out of the junior level, the Real roster includes seven players who won the title last season. And the Spanish powers, who have won their last 17 NextGen games dating back to the NextGen Finals in 2022 in Belgrade, are the favorites to get the ticket for the NextGen Finals.
Gildas Gimenez averaged 2.4 points and 1.9 rebounds over last season’s two tournaments - the qualifier and Finals. He made his ACB tdebut in November against Murcia and is averaging 9.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists for Real’s second team in the fourth division Tercera FEB. Gimenez was a leader of the Spanish team that took the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 with 14.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. And then he picked up 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
German Declan Duru averaged 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds for the season including 3 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in the Championship Game against PFBB INSEP Paris. Duru made his EuroLeague debut against Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Round 9 in November just more than a week after playing in the ACB for the first time against Murcia. He is averaging 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in the second team. Last summer he collected 10.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.2 blocks at the FIBA U17 EuroBasket 2024 and then made history by contributing 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds as Germany claimed the title at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 - the country’s first youth Division A men’s crown.
Sidi Gueye collected 7.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists over the NextGen season last year including 2 points and 5 rebounds in the Championship Game. Gueye already has played in three EuroLeague games - totalling 2 points in nearly 5 minutes - and four games in the ACB with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 24 total minutes. The Senegalese big man is not playing with Real’s second team, having not played a game in the fourth division.
Amadou Traore meanwhile is actually playing his fourth season of NextGen games and is a two-time continental champion. He appeared in one game in 2020-21 and averaged 3.5 points and 3.4 rebounds last season. Traore has played in only three games with the second team this season - missing six weeks and hasn’t played since December 5. Last summer he did a bit of everything in helping Mali claim the title at the FIBA U18 AfroBasket 2024 with 6.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocks.
Adrians Andzevs played just one game during the qualifying tournament but all four in the Finals, averaging 3.0 points. He is picking up 8.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in Real’s second team this season. He played for Latvia at the cadet level in 2023 and starred for the team at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 with 12.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.7 steals.
Ignacio Campoy totalled 1.7 points and 2.7 rebounds last season and he is averaging 5.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals this season in the fourth division. The guard was a member of Spain’s title-winning team at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 with 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds and then had 8.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
The seventh player back is Kyllian Michee, who had 2.9 points and 2.4 assists last season. The French guard is contributing 7.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the Tercera FEB. He helped France to third place at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 with 5.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists but did not make the team for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
Maximo Garcia-Plata joined Real this off-season from Estudiantes and has had a strong year with 11.4 points in the fourth division. He totalled 9.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in helping Spain take the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and then had 8.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
Another major off-season addition last summer was Fabian Kayser leaving Paderborn in Germany for his first season in Spain. The German forward is one of the top players on the continent in the 2009 generation. He is averaging 4.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists in the fourth deivision. That came after a strong 2024 summer. Kayser played two years younger at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 and had 7.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists before collecting 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024.
Andrej Bjelic actually took the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024 with Serbia, pouring in 18.7 points to go with 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists. Bjelic, who will be making his NextGen debut, is averaging 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 steals for the second team.
Another ace from the 2008 generation is Russian Ilia Frolov, who is picking up 7.3 points and 6.2 rebounds for the second team. Frolov was the MVP of the U16 No Borders Tournament in Opicina and Trieste in November 2023.
Real are preparing themselves for next season in the NextGen with another strong 2008-born player in Gunars Grinvalds - another Latvian. He is scoring 5.9 points with 3.5 rebounds for the second team. Grinvalds played last summer at his second FIBA U16 EuroBasket and averaged 9.6 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Real’s preliminary roster also includes 2009-born Mali big men Mahamadou Landoure and Ousmane Diarra and 2008-born guard Marcos Zurita.
SC Derby Podgorica
Derby will be appearing in the competition for a second season after they hosted the NextGen Podgorica event last season and finished third. This Derby team will not have the same dominant player as last season with David Mirkovic. It will be a more balanced team.
Danilo Nikezic has already made his debut in the Montengro first league with a combined 8 points, 3 rebounds and 4 steals over 41 minutes in four games. He is one of the leaders of Derby’s second team in the second division with 15.0 points and 5.4 rebounds. The shooting guard has played twice for Montenegro’s youth national teams: with 4.3 points at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and 3.6 points at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024, Division B.
Vladimir Komnenovic will be an invited player and playing for Derby for a second straight season after averaging 10.2 points and 2.5 assists last season. Komnenovic, who plays in Mornar Bar’s system, has been a leader in Montengro’s youth national teams. The point guard played a minor role at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2022 and then doninated at the competition in 2023 with 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 78 percent from the field. Komnenovic played a year younger last summer and picked up 2.4 points and 1.6 assists at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024, Division B.
One of the top younger players for Derby will be Vuk Ivelja, a 2008-born point guard who also has made his senior team debut back in October. He recently scored 19 points in a second division game and averaged 6.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in three U19 ABA league games. Ivelja spent his second summer at the cadet continental level for Montenegro. He averaged 10.6 points and 2.1 assists as Montenegro were relegated at FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and then totalled 7.3 points, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B.
Another of Montenegro’s 2008-born stars is Balsa Mugosa, who averaged 9.3 points 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in the U19 ABA League and already has three appearances for Derby’s pro team in the first division. And the forward is averaging 9.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in the second division. Mugosa collected 7.0 points and 2.1 rebounds at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B.
Derby’s next gem however is 2009-born Marko Popovic, who made his first division debut in mid-November with 4 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal in 9 mintues. The forward spent December playing with Tivat in the U17 EYBL and averaged 22.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 blocks. Last summer he averaged 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024, Division B despite being a year younger.
The 2.05 meter power forward Andrija Daletic (Djaletic) also has played for Derby’s first team in 5 games including scoring 11 points and grabbing 3 rebounds in 16 minutes against Susanj.
Lazar Smolovic is a 2.10 meter center who joined the club in the off-season and played a minor role for Montenegro at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023.
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Virtus Segafredo Bologna will be competing in the NextGen EuroLeague for a ninth season and for the second straight year. The Italians claimed seventh place at the NextGen Dubai last year - which was their first appearance in the competition since 2019.
The leader of the team will be Matteo Accorsi. The 1.91 meter shooting guard and is a Bologna native. He will be playing in the event for a second time after collecting 16.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals at last season’s event in Dubai. Accorsi has played the last two summers for Italy as part of the wildly successful generation. He helped the country win silver at both the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024, averaging 5.0 points and 2.1 rebounds on the global stage. This season he is producing 16 points and 5.2 rebounds in the Italian U19 championship.
Accorsi’s right hand man in Munich will be Matteo Lenci, who played as an invited player in Dubai last season and averaged 9.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 asissts and 1.5 steals. He made the move from Basket Ball Club Lucca to Virtus in July 2024 and has been the other scoring threat alongside Accorsi, averaging 15.4 points in the U19 championship. Lenci has not played with the Italian youth national teams but many consider he is close to getting there.
Virtus does not really have a lot of offensive production besides those two. Riccardo Vandini, who picked up 3.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals last season in Dubai, has scored in double figures for one game this season.
Center Riccardo Dalla Cia collected 6.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in the NextGen Dubai and has played this season in the Italian third divison B Nazionale and picked up 3 points and 4 rebounds in 26 minutes over 8 games for San Vendemiano.
Dalla Cia will be helped out in the post by Simone Frashni, who is a 2.13 meter big man playing as an invited player from Montecatini.
Matteo Genasi has had some production for the team so far for this season while Stefano Maurizzi and Davide Ligabue both played in Dubai.
Giovanni Lomartire arrived in the off-season from Olimpia Milan, and Livio Berlingeri is a forward born on December 26, 2008 who played with Castelfranco in the past.
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