At the start of each season of the last few years now, people mention just how international the NBA has become. The number of NBA players from oversees seems to get higher each year. This is just the tip of the iceberg though. The NBA is putting out its feelers more and more aggressively all over the world in more subtle ways which keeps being hidden to the casual fan. The Basketball without Borders program has become an integral part of the NBA calendar. To some degree a charitable program, it has become a serious evaluating platform for very young international talent. Not only players are called to tour the world as ambassadors and meet young hoopsters from all over the world as ambassadors of the game, but coaches and even GM's are becoming more interested in taking these trips in the off season.
This one is a special one. While BwB camps feature a large amount of prospects, only the very top is truly interesting to NBA people, if at all. For the All-Star Weekend, the NBA invited the very best prospects aged between 17 and 18 from all around the world. Unlike with regular BwB camps, actual scouts have been invited too. The camp is loaded with interesting guys from all over the world even though a few have not been granted the permission to attend like Greek top youths Vaseilios Charalampopolous and Georgios Papagiannis.
The campers will be guided by NBA players from all over the world as well. Three Senegalese campers will have the opportunity to meet Gorgui Dieng, while Europe's Danilo Gallinari, South America's Tiago Splitter and Oceania's Steen Adams will meet fellow countrymen as well as others.
The camp will include several competitions as well as multiple 5-on-5 games. The campers will also be able to attend all All-Star Weekend festivities and competitions.
Shedule taken from DrafExpress:
Friday, Feb 13
09:00 AM Movement Efficiency Training
10:05 AM Position Skill Stations
10:50 AM multiple 12-minute 5-on-5 games
11:50 AM Shooting Challenge
Saturday, Feb 14
10:15 AM Movement Efficiency Training
11:10 AM Position Skill Stations
11:55 AM multiple 12-minute 5-on-5 games
12:55 AM Shooting Challenge
Sunday, Feb 15
09:30 AM Movement Efficiency Training
10:20 AM Position Skill Stations
11:05 AM multiple 12-minute 5-on-5 games
12:00 AM Shooting Challenge
Now on to the prospects. I give you some info and list the relevant international competition they have competed in so far as well as basic stats for those. You will see that they have met each other at several international events and camps already. Also, even though most won't even turn 18 years old, most of them had a busy international schedule in the last three years.
Here's a chart listing for the relevant international camps and events. Accomplishments will be listed as well.
So here we go...
I don't need to tell you who this kid is.Having just turned 17 years old, Bender’s the big name here as he's widely recognized as the top international talent in his age group. After a dominant performance at the 2014 Under-18 Championship, Bender has made a successful, soft transition to the pro level in the 2nd Israeli league. With Ironi Ramat Gan, farm Team of Euroleague champ Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bender is contributing to a middle of the pack team in a starting role. Bender is shooting a solid 54.3% inside the arc. He's struggling with his outside shot so far, converting only 25% of his threes. However, the outside game is becoming a staple of his game early. 40% of his shots come from beyond the arc. His free throw shooting is solid and could show the potential to become a true stretch big in the long run. With 14.2 points, 8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.2 blocks and 0.7 steals, Bender is leading his Israeli team in blocks and rebounds. He's also 2nd in scoring but also turnover-prone right now, losing the ball almost three times per game.
Another Croat, Mazalin won the bronze medal at the Under-18 Euro Championship alongside Dragan Bender. Mazalin is combining terrific size and good wingspan with a versatile skillset at both forward positions. His ball handling is above average at his size, and he feels most comfortable when he can attack the basket. Fortunately, he’s a decent distributor as well, averaging 3.8 assists on the U-18 team.
Still so young, he struggles to score efficiently at times and is extremely turnover prone. His dribble drive proficiency can tempt him to force the issues, making things tougher for him than they should be. This is also due to an unreliable jump shot despite being a good good free throw shooter for the last two years.At the 2013 U-16 and 2014 U-18 championships, Mazalin attempted at least 2.4 three point attempts per game and never came close to hitting 30%. At last year's event, he averaged 8.9 points on 40.6% from the field, 2.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.4 turnovers. Being the man the year before at the U-16 championship, he averaged 18.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 3.1 turnovers. This year with Cedevita, Zagreb, he’s seeing limited time in the Adriatic League and the Euroleague already. He has a long way to go to sort out his promising set of skills that could make him a special, tall wing who could play both positions. With great power comes great responsibility and Mazalin could likely turn into a problematic Evan Turner-type guy who produces without much impact, yet is having trouble to be useful away from the ball, but for now Mazalin's looking interesting and shows flashes of being a smart player.
Pro scout Robert White (@robertwhite) of prospectnext.com evaluated La Torre last year so I will just quote some passages on La Torre. Read the full report here: http://www.prospectnext.com/post/97567176667/andrea-la-torre
"Andrea La Torre first caught my eye earlier this year at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament,... where his all-round talent and feel for the game were on display in limited minutes despite the 97-born being a year younger than the majority of the competition. After an up and down showing in Mannheim,... LaTorre returned in time to make the U17 squad for the World Championship in Dubai, where he was again plagued by inconsistency and averaged just 10 PPG in 21 minutes of action, also shooting a dismal 9.5% from three.
La Torre’s ability to score off the dribble is solid for his height despite a lack of explosiveness. His ball handling at 6’8"/202cm is fantastic, enabling him to drive with both left and right hand and change direction with a quick crossover in tight spaces. He is however, prone to turnovers on wild forays into the paint, losing control of the ball with high dribbles and poor body control.
Everything I saw of La Torre’s jump shot this summer screamed inconsistent. He is best catching in motion and stepping into his shot in rhythm and his shooting efficiency and mechanics appears to suffer dramatically when he involves too many dribbles, namely leg kicks, balance issues and a notable strain on the back in his technique.
A lot of La Torre’s potential rests in his ability to create for others. He has shown high quality vision, but must develop his passing skills to become a real asset in this department. He is easily able to see over the defense and I was impressed on a number of occasions in his ability to use his dribble and find spots on the floor where multiple defenders are forced to engage him and opening up more than one passing opportunity for open teammates. He lets himself down with errant passes that miss the open man’s shooting pocket by a long way and I would ideally like to see him utilized as the ball handler in more pick and roll opportunities, where I think his size and skill set could make him a massive plus for an offense.
He has good size for the small forward position, but I’m not sure he can effectively stay in front of quicker perimeter players on a full-time basis.
His post game is currently quite basic, however La Torre has shown that he can score on the low block against a smaller mismatch.
Loubaki is one of the oldest competitors in this field. Like with so many other prospects in this field, NBA scouts got a good look at the Jordan International Classic in 2013 and the Under-17 World Championship in 2014. He’s made a name as a pesky defender with above average wingspan. Through 7 games at the World Championship, Loubaki averaged 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. His offensive game is unfortunately still raw and not on the level of a true combo guard. He couldn't hit more than 38% of his shots neither at the U-16 nor the U-17 Championship. He lacks a jumper which is noticeable at the free throw line where he only hit 21 of 42 for France over the last two years. He’s quick and possesses tools which could be useful on offense, and NBA teams seem to become bigger fans of drafting guys who can do everything but shoot. Loubaki seems a little far behind in figuring out how to make these tools relevant though and he will have to make a big jump in the next two years. Don’t look for him to show up in New York with much confidence in his shot. He’s only hit 6 out of 39 threes this year. At least, he’s improving as a free throw shooter, hitting 70%. Look for him to annoy the other ball handlers, but he will have to show more on the offensive side either as a scorer or a game manager to impress the scouts.
Gombauld was not only a teammate of Loubaki at the U-17 Championship, but is also sharing the court with him at France’s prestigious Centre Federal du Basketball which has produced most of the relevant French NBA players, Gombauld is a slightly undersized inside big. He’s probably been the best player of France’s U-17 team last year, averaging 15.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. On Team France and in league play, Gombauld is a prime offensive option who is slowly trying to extend his range to the three point line which is a necessary step given that he's undersized at 6 foot 7. He’s taking 1.7 threes per contest this year, but only hitting these at 29%. He plays bigger than he is against his peers, and it should be interesting to see how Gombauld will look like against this tough field with multiple guys who are already pushing seven foot.
Niklas Kiel is an interesting German prospect who likes to do his damage off the bounce and from the perimeter. He likes to flash his play making ability but can drift outside a little too much. This year in the semi-pro 3rd German League, Kiel is averaging 1.6 assists in 24 minutes per game. 23% of shots are three point attempts which he is hitting at a measly 17.6% so far. He’s struggling to score efficiently inside at times and hasn't quite been a dynamic scorer through the youth stage. At the 2013 U-16 Championship which Germany won, he’s scored just 10 points on 30% shooting in 28 minutes per game. At last year’s U-18 B-Division Euro Championship, Kiel managed to score 7.3 points on 41% from the field in 21 minutes. Kiel’s outside game is interesting but his skill set does not seem close to being rounded out to really be a threat as a point forward type. There are more interesting prospects emerging in Germany like Andreas Obst and Isaiah Hartenstein, and Kiel couldn't quite stand out on talented German youth teams. This field with multiple interesting bigs of all sizes and skills will be a good test for Kiel.
This young Lithuanian is blessed with above average athleticism which allows him to be a dynamic, fearless driver. In traffic, he isn't shy to go up for dunk attempts even with bigger guys between him and the basket. Varnas isn't totally useless as a creator too, averaging 4.7 assists per game at the 2013 U-16 Euro Championship. At this event, he also scored 16.9 points on 53%, got 6.2 rebound, 2.1 steals but also committed 4 turnovers per game. Last year at the Under-18 championship, Varnas averaged just 20 minutes per game and averaged a rather quite 9.2 points and 2 rebounds. He was mostly operating as a spot-up option. More than 50% of his shots came were three point attempts which he only hit at 27.3%. He was still barely stoppable inside.
His shooting is somewhat of a mystery and could really open up his game to go along with solid defensive potential. He's known as a weak shooter but has shown mixed, somewhat promising results in his young campaign. He will probably be a pest for foul prone bigs who can't move their feet at this event, and scouts should watch him closely during the many shooting drills.
Nikola Rakicevic has been a bench player in the last two years both at the national team as well as the youth team level at the U-16 FIBA and NIJT event. However, he already showed flashes of being capable of starting for a talented team which he proved at the Under-17 World Championship. Averaging 12.4 points per game mostly on rim attacks at 48.% from the field, he also pulled down 5.7 rebounds and got 1.9 steals. He's more a creator for himself and might not quite have the vision some other guys his size have. Still, he's an intensive player who challenges opponents on both ends.
Yusta is an interesting combo forward whose reputation has been a bit better than his actual promise I believe. The Spaniard is multi-skilled and has been a pain for opponents when used as a slashing stretch four. Yusta led Team Spain in scoring during its gold run at the U16 Championship, but only shot 36.6% from the field and a miserable 22% on 4 3PA per game. He's an allright rebounder at the small forward spot, and he shows a knack for steals, also due to nice wingspan. While he's a really nice slasher who shows a variety of counter moves to his dribble drives, his vision to create for others is mediocre at best. At this year's U17 World Championship, Yusta averaged 14.1 points on 41.7%. He wasn't very efficient from the field and struggled with his outside shot again, but drew a ton of fouls for a solid TS% of 56.6.
It's tough to figure out what Yusta will eventually become. The versatility is promising and he can be the best player on the court, but it's not quite on the level of a guy like Mazalin who can really wreak havoc and whose sheer talent will likely win out against the question marks.
Xabi Lopez probably saved himself into this camp after a dominant showing at the NIJT late in 2014. While not named the MVP of that tourney, Lopez was likely the best player. He averaging 22 points on 46.1% from the field, 7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.8 steals. Such an outbreak was much needed after two miserable campaigns with the U16 and U17 teams in the last two years. In 2013, Yusta averaged 12 points on 31.6% from the field and 28.3% on 4.8 3PA per game. One year later, he managed to be even worse at the U17 World Championship where he averaged 8 points on 30.1% from the field and 19.4% on 5.1 3PA per game. The NIJT outing should help his confidence to prove himself before the eyes of NBA scouts against much of the same field he faced at the Under-17 event last summer.
Jacob Larsen | Denmark
F/C | 17.7 years old | 6'7
The brother of ACB pro Rasmus Larsen had a great outing at the Under-16 B-Division championship in 2013. Ever since, things have gone a little quite as he hasn't moved to a top program in Europe yet but stayed with his Danish team's youth program. Somewhat of a mystery who hasn't competed with top level talent so far, scouts will be intrigued to see how he fares against them in New York. Larsen was named MVP of the 2013 B-Division U16 event where he averaged 20 points on 67.4% from the field, 12.1 rebounds, 4 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game. Apparently, he plans to go to US college in the future.
If scouts would rank the campers they came to see, the majority of them would likely name Humphries second behind Bender. Humphries caught their eyes at the 2013 adidas Nations event where he battled with multiple future NBA players like Jahlil Okafor, Kevon Looney and Justice Winslow. After a quiet outing there, Humphries was far and away the best non-US big at last year's Under-17 World Championship where he averaged 18.9 points on 57.6% from the field, 11.6 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, 1.6 assists and 4 tournovers per game. A stacked Team Australia gave the ultra-athletic and talented Team USA its only real scare in the finals matchup which Australia lost by six points. Humphries didn't have his best game offensively against the Americans, but he was also taken out of the game well by the size of the US' frontcourt featuring multiple high caliber guys like Diamond Stone, Henry Ellenson, Ivan Rabb, Harry Giles and Josh Jackson.
Vasiljevic is a fun prospect. He's a bulky, short combo guard who might have one of the lowest points of gravity I have ever seen on a basketball talent. Vasiljevic was a member of the Australian team which competed at the adidas Nations event. Here, Vasiljevic struggled to stand out as anything other than a sccorer, and he wasn't a particular good one either, averaging 11.2 points on 11.2 shots per game. He rebounded the ball decently, but was turnover prone while not doing much of anything on the offensive end. He even went 1-11 from the field and had four turnovers against the weakest of the 3 US teams in the league. At last year's U17 World Championship, Vasiljevic was much improved. Still not an efficient scorer inside due to his size and weird build, he averaged 17.4 points on 36.3% from the field. As at the adidas Nations, Vasiljevic proved to be a solid three point threat however, hitting 37% on 7.7 attempts per game. He was a dominant rebounder at his position and cut down his turnovers as well. In the championship game against the US, he scored 29 points. At the U-18 Oceania championship following the U-17 World event, Vasiljevic averaged 12.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
Wilson has not participated at the adidas Nations event and joined the Australian core for the Under-17 World Championship. The combo guard did not have a particularly great showing but impressed in the championship game against the US who benefited from the US focusing on teammate Isaac Humphries. Wilson scored 23 points on 14 shots, went to the line 12 times, got 7 rebounds and 6 assists against the high flying US team. This performance in particular might have been his ticket to New York. In general, he didn't get into a groove shooting the ball, converting only 21.9% of 4.6 3PA per game. He didn't have a strong U-18 Oceania Championship showing either, averaging just 8 ponts, 4 rebounds and 3.8 rebounds per game.
As one of the more interesting prospects in Oceania, Freeman was invited to participate at the adidas NATIONS in 2014. He didn't have a great outing, shooting just 40% from the field and committing three turnovers per game. He flashed his potential in the U-16 and U-18 Oceania Championships in the last two years against mostly weak competition. Standing at 6'9, Freeman is not afraid to step out. Still a very streak shooter, he's been atempting between 40-50% of his shots from beyond the arc at the 2014 adidas Nations and U-18 event.
Jamal Murray is one of the rising talents in the USA high school circles. A five star Rivals recrui, Murray is currently ranked in the top 20 for the 2016 class. He's been eager to compete in the international setting, taking part in multiple Nike brand events as well as as the U-16 and U-17 level. He was named Jordan Classic 2013 MVP which also included other top names like Dragan Bender, Luc Loubaki, Thon Maker, Lovro Mazalin, Andrea La Torre, Australian stud Ben Simmons, Vasileios Charalampopoulos, Justin Jackson, Georgios Papagiannis and Stefan Peno. Murray competed at the 2014 Nike Hoop Summit and scored 10 points with 5 assists. He was terrific at the NIKE Global Challenge which featured several current college players like Tyus Jones, D'Angelo Russell, Kelly Oubre and Stanley Johnson. He wasn't named to the All-Tourney team but scored the ball very efficiently. Through five games, he scored 10.5 points on 51.6% from the field. He's been a very good three point shooter throughout most these event with a slump coming at last year's Under-17 World Championship. He shot just 28.6% on 5 three point attempts per game after converting 41.4% on 5.8 attempts the year before at the U-16 Americas.
He's still growing as a playmaker but showed very promising flashes in the FIBA events. He also plays the passing lanes extremely well.
Jackson is another rising high school player from Canada who is currently playing for a Nevada-based high school powerhouse which produced fellow countrymen Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph and Anthony Bennett. He's currently ranked 32nd in the 2016 class as a four star recruit. A 6'7 wing, Jackson participated as one of the youngest players at the 2012 Under-17 World Championship and averaged 11 points on 52.% from the field with six rebounds and 2.1 steals. He was a slight disappointment at the 2013 U-16 Americas Championship where he scored an inefficient 10 points on 32.7% from the field. He struggled converting his free throws and was turnover prone.
Ekiyor is a lanky, still somewhat undersized inside big man who is a Rivals 3 star athlete ranked just outside the top 100 for 2016. He's playing for Nike Canada's CIA Bounce Academy which alumni include Andrew Wiggins and Tyler Ennis among others. At U-16 and U-17 events, Ekiyor has been a terrific rebounder who can block a shot and finish well without asking for the ball much.
K.J. Santos is a Puerto Rican who has been growing up in the United States. The Santos family has a basketball background. His mother, and two of his sisters have been playing college basketball, and Santos will be the next in line. He's a four star recruit according to Rivals, currently ranked at 95. A wing with ball handling abilities who played point guard at times, he seems to have grown to two inches in the last year which could make him a versatile wing.
Santos has passport issues which held him out of FIBA competition. Not having represented Santos at the youth level, this will be a welcome opportunity to see him compete with the top international talent and FIBA Americas talent in particular.
Gandia is a guard who is currently playing for Huntington Prep School which basketball program saw its first NBA players produced in Gorgui Dieng and Andrew Wiggins. Puerto Rico was a surprise hit at last year's FIBA Under-17 World Championship with Gandia at the point. Gandia is a dynamic guard who likes to bomb from outside and has shown improvement as a game manager at his last two FIBA events, averaging only 1.4 turnovers per game. After a terrific outing at the Under-18 Americas in 2014, Gandia's U17 campaign wasn't as good by the numbers.
China's Yanhao Zhao is a fun to watch gunner with remarkable scoring instincts for his age. He won MVP honors at a Basketball without Borders Asian event a few years ago. Artur Kowis (@arturkowis) wrote a breakdown of his Under-17 World Championship performance which I will quote parts of: https://balltrackr.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/zhao-yanhao-%E8%B5%B5%E5%B2%A9%E6%98%8A/
Watching through games, combo-guard(ish) Zhao Yanhao immediately caught my eye with his gutsy and intuitive play. My knowledge of the basketball situation in the Middle Kingdom is very limited but a ball handling wing player who can be a dangerous scorer on and off the ball should be the type of talent China basketball should seek, and Zhao might or might not become the blueprint. There are a few things that give me some hope for him becoming a talent who could get relevance outside Asia.
Zhao is a voluminous three-point shooter who likes to spot up just as much as jack shots off the dribble.
On the defensive end, Zhao is not very attentive when it comes to help defense and he doesn't rebound at all. The one big positive on this end is his ability to blitz passing lanes and get steals which he usually finishes in transition. As games go on, Zhao seems to sniff out opponent plays and passing schemes on the perimeter, popping out of nowhere into passes which seem safe. Gambling for steals does get his team in trouble every now and then, but generally, China was profiting from his steal hunting which produced many more easy points than they allowed.
His ballhandling and instincts on and off the ball are other positives which he is not yet able to use in diverse ways other than looking for a straight line to the basket and hoping to get fouled.
Jinqui Hu is another promising big man out of China who combines size with offensive versatility and skill. In his age group, Hu has been China's best prospect in the last few years. During a disappointing team performance at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament, Hu was their only solid player averaging 10.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 28 minutes per game. He shot 51% from the field and drew fouls at a high rate. He's been dominant at the Under-16 Asia championship the year before, averaging 20 points per game at 70% shooting,13 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game against a mostly undersized field. At the Under-17 World Championship, Hu fared very well again and led Team China as an inside presence next to Zhao Yanhao. He averaged a double-double of 17 & 12 on 56% shooting from the floor. He also blocked 1.3 shots and got 1.4 steals. He's efficient, draws fouls, has a soft touch, accumulates defensive stats and flashes a mid-range shot.
Zijie Shen | China
F/C | 17.5 years old | 6'9
Chinese msytery man who was sent to the acclaimed Skills Factory in the United States for an intensive, 3 month long training program by the Chinese federation. According to Chinese rumors, he's a fairly athletic big man with a 7'2 wingspan. He was a teammate of Hu and Zhao at the Under-16 Asia Championship team, but only played limited minutes in three games. Shen has met with AAU and college people to test the waters, but seems to stay in China for now where he might be promoted to a CBA team soon.
It's surprising that Jose Go is here, but hey, cool for him to enjoy New York. Go is a guard who was working as a combo guard for the always undersized Philippines at the Under-17 World Championship. His stats do not blow away. He didn't do much apart from shoot the ball. He averaged 12.4 points in 22.4 minutes on 34% from the field. He competed at the Under-16 and Under-18 level in Asia but didn't stand out there either.
Fjellerup is one of the youngest and probably most interesting campers in attendance. A combo guard with good size, the Argentine is a creative ball handler with great technique on the ball, also probably among the best in the field. As many players of his profile and age, he's struggled with his finising and passing at the Under-16 and Under-17 events, also because he overtaxes himself at times. He's a wizard in the passing lanes and pretty good passer at his size. He has a pretty nice frame which should help him as an inside player in the long run when he becomes stronger. He's a streaky shooter who didn't hit more than 26% of his threes at the FIBA level. Fjellerup is already gaining some experience as a pro in the Argentinian league.
Mas Delfino was the MVP of the Under-15 FIBA Americas Championship and played well at the Under-17 World Championship in 2014. He was used mostly as a spot-up shooter, hitting a hot 44% on 3.6 three point attempts per game.
The third Argentine guard in attendance. Carvalho apparently played through an injury in Dubai at the Under-17 Wolrd championship, but that didn't keep him from contributing, mostly with very good shooting.
Guilherme Santos | Brazil
G | 17.8 years old | 6'2
Santos is a guard from Brazil who took part in a FIBA Americas camp in Canada organized by NIKE and the NBA. He was named MVP of the camp's all-star game.
Yuri Da Silva | Brazil
C | 17.6 years old | 6'10
There isn't much info to be found on Da Silva. He doesn't seem to be a prominent prospect but might have scouts intrigued because of his size.
De Sousa is the youngest camper who actually won't turn 17 before October 2015. Also being the youngest competitor at the FIBA Under-17 World Championship in 2014, De Sousa impressed with his dominant play inside. The 6'8 big wasn't very efficient, converting just 43.8% from the field, but he also took down 9.4 rebounds and got 2.1 steals in 29 minutes. He's still playing in Angola and might get some interest from NCAA teams. In 2013, he competed at the FIBA Africa Under-16 Championship where he led Team Angola to the gold model, mostly impacting with his defense and strong rebounding, averaging 12.7 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.He also likes to drift out to the three point line where he is an absolutely abysmal shooter right now.
Luca Lunnemann | South Africa
G | 17.2 years old | 6'3
Lunnemann was an all-star of the 2013 Basketball without Borders camp in 2013, and the MVP of the 2014 one in Africa. Currently, he's playing for a US-based program which sells team spots to international talent in order to train them and give them exposure to college people.
Lamine Diane | Senegal
G | 17.2 years old | 6'6
Diane is an athletic wing who caught the attention of NBA scouts at the 2014 Basketball without Borders camp in Africa.
Ibrahima Faye | Senegal
C | 18.0 years old | 6'9
Ibrahima Faye was the Co-MVP of the Jordan Brand Classic event in 2014 with a 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks performance. Currently, he's under contract Clint Capela's former French League team Elan Chalon. However, he's not a member of the pro team, but competing at the youth level in France instead.
Achref Gannouni | Tunisia
G | 17.8 years old | 6'2
Gannouni was the leading scorer and an All-Tournament team member of the Under-16 Africa championship where he led Tunisia to a bronze medal. Gannouni averaged 24.5 points, 1.8 assists and 3.5 steals per game and scored a tournament high 43 points against Mozambique. After a strong showing at the MENA Basketball showcase, an event to give North African and Middle East talent exposure to the international stage, Gannouni enrolled at St. Louis Christian Academy in the United States.
Matar Gueye | Senegal
C | 18.0 years old | 6'8
Third Senegalese hooper in this field who took part in the 2014 Basketball without Borders camp in Africa.
Mamadou Diarra | Mali
C | 17.3 years old | 6'9
Not to be confused with a former Malinese Mamadou Diarra who worked out for a few NBA teams. Not much info on this guy.
Umar Garba & Abu Ibe Abuchi | Nigeria
Unfortunately, no information on these guys.
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