A field of 32 junior teams from all corners of Europe are set to mount their own run for a continental title after the naming Tuesday of all the participating teams for the four qualifiers of the 2015-16 EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT.
32 teams announced for ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT qualifiers!
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This will mark the 14th edition of a competition that has grown from eight teams and one city in 2003 to qualifying tournaments held across the continent that offer 32 teams the chance to become the junior club champions of Europe.
Eight teams each will compete at qualifying tournaments in four countries for the right to advance to the finals during Final Four week in Berlin next spring.
The 32 teams participating in the qualifiers come from 15 countries. Amongst them are represented 13 clubs from the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and six from the Eurocup.
Many of the senior club teams boast alumni of the junior tournament like Jonas Maciulis (Real Madrid), Milos Teodosic (CSKA Moscow), Dario Saric (Anadolu Efes Istanbul), Nihad Dedovic (FC Bayern Munich) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (Fenerbahce Istanbul).
Again this year the first qualifying tournament will be in Rome, to be played from December 27 to 29, 2015. This year's participants in the Italian capital are: Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Armani Junior Milan, CSKA Moscow, Mega Leks Belgrade, Stellazzurra Basketball Academy Rome, Umana Reyer Venice, Unicaja Malaga, Virtus Bologna.
The new year arrives with juniors battling for survival in L'Hospitalet from January 4 to 6, which will highlight European junior club champion Real Madrid alongside Baloncesto Seville, Brose Baskets Bamberg, FC Barcelona Lassa, Fiatc Joventut Badalona, L'Hospitalet, Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv and Union Olimpija Ljubljana.
Later the same month, from January 15 to 17, Kaunas takes center stage with host and two-time tournament champion Zalgiris Kaunas welcoming BBA Ludwigsburg, Cibona Zagreb, Fenerbahce Istanbul, INSEP Paris, Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, USK Future Stars Prague and VEF Riga.
The final qualifier in Belgrade runs from February 26 to 28 and will feature ALBA Berlin, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, Cedevita Zagreb, Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade, FC Bayern Munich, Partizan Belgrade, Spars Sarajevo, Zemun Belgrade.
Winners of each qualifying tournament will take part in the Finals from May 12 to 15, 2016 in Berlin, to be joined by the reigning champions and three wild card invitations. The 2015-16 EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT champion will be crowned on the same court the morning of the 2016 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four Championship Game, hours before the Euroleague champion is known.
You can find more information throughout the 2015-16 EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT at adidasngt.com!