Yago dos Santos arrived at ratiopharm Ulm with some high expectations thanks to some lofty past achievements. And now after a few weeks of adjusting to his first experience in Europe, the Brazilian point guard is starting to shine brightly in the 7DAYS EuroCup.
Dos Santos’s resume before coming to Germany included Brazilian League championships with Paulistano and Flamengo as well as the Basketball Champions League Americas title and the FIBA Intercontinental Cup with Brazilian powerhouse Flamengo. Not to mention having played at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers and winning silver at the FIBA AmeriCup 2022.
All of those accomplishments as a 23-year-old.
Next up for the native of Tuna, Sao Paulo, in southern Brazil was making the jump to Europe.
"I always wanted to challenge myself at all levels. I did a lot of things in Brazil and it was time to take the next step. I have a lot of dreams and know that the road is not easy, but I am happy for everything I have achieved and thrilled to find out what's left for me to conquer while playing basketball,” said dos Santos, who signed a two-year contract with Ulm this off-season.
"I always wanted to come to Europe and play here and when I got the news that playing for Ulm was a possibility, I was very happy and it was the best decision to play here."
Dos Santos went through some initial growing pains. In his first four games in the German League plus Ulm’s German Cup game, the 1.75-meter playmaker averaged 4.6 points while shooting 33.3% on two-pointers and missing all 15 of his three-pointers to go with 2.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists with 1.8 turnovers in just under 20 minutes.
Things in the last three league games have drastically improved as dos Santos is pouring in 21.0 points on 58.8% two-point shooting and 9-of-21 three-pointers (42.9%) while also chipping in 3.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.3 turnovers in 30.3 minutes.
He also has excelled in international play with Ulm, averaging 10.8 points on 54.5% and 36.8% shooting, 2.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 turnovers in 22 minutes of four EuroCup games.
"I knew that the playing style and the way people play would be different. I also knew that things would get better and it was only a matter of time,” dos Santos said. "I am understanding more about the systems and the playing style, earning my teammates' and coaches' confidence. This helps me a lot.”
Another problem dos Santos faced early on was not being able to take part in Ulm’s pre-season training camp since he was with the Brazilian national team at the 2022 AmeriCup where the South Americans took home the silver medal after a 75-73 loss to Argentina in the final on September 11.
"We did not do our preseason training camp together, and that stood in our way from getting to know each other,” said dos Santos, who tallied 11 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals in the title game. “We are making progress, learning and evolving, even after losses. This is a great team, I love it. All of us in here are going to improve a lot.”