The young ANGT Paris MVP is still new to the game and the continent.
Assane Sankare is living his dream of playing in Europe
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Assane Sankare has not even been in Europe for two years but the Senegal forward has already proven to be one of the best players on a continent where he is living a dream and was just named MVP of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Paris.
Sankare was a leading force as the Next Generation Team Paris last weekend became the first select team out of 12 over three seasons to win an ANGT qualifying tournament. In Sunday's title game, he collected 20 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks for a performance index rating of 33 in his team's 86-78 victory over U18 PFYM INSEP Paris. For the tournament, Sankare averaged 14.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks for a PIR of 24.8 over four games in three days.
"It's a great motivation for me," Sankare said through an interpreter after the title game. "I wanted to show what I was capable of and how I can play and that I can be MVP.
"I've learned a lot from it. It's a very great pleasure. It's another great learning experience."
His head coach for the weekend, Eero Leva, was very impressed with Sankare.
"His athleticism is something I haven't seen at the junior level," he said. "Amazing player, good guy. He doesn't speak English, so that caused some problems because we didn't have any common language. But we had many French players who helped, and the message went through. Big ups to Assane. A very coachable kid."
Sankare, for his part, really hasn't been playing basketball long, having decided five years ago to change sports from football.
"I decided to change because my family wanted me to choose another sport, and basketball arrived on the table," he said. "I started only in 2019."
Soon, it was pretty clear where the youngster from western African wanted to go.
"Europe was always a big dream. I always wanted to go to a European club and play in the EuroCup or EuroLeague or – why not? – the NBA," said Sankare, who turned 17 since the tournament ended on Sunday. "I knew I needed to come to Europe for that."
In November 2022, his dream came true as Sankare landed at Italian club Vis Ferrara, near Bologna in northern Italy. This season, he also played with Sassari in the country's U20 NextGen competition.
When asked what it was like coming to Italy, he said:
"There were a lot more challenges back home, but in theory starting a new life with a language barrier, everything in life is difficult. But I just keep going."
Sankare said he was excited to be chosen by Adidas for the select team.
"It's a great pleasure for me to do something like this because I heard a lot about it," he said. "Some of my friends have already been in this competition. So it was kind of a dream."
Helping his team make ANGT history and winning the tournament MVP award definitely gives Sankare a boost of confidence as he winds down his second season in Europe.
"This has been a great second year," he said, "and I am looking forward to many more."