[Kasparas Jakucionis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/kasparas-jakucionis/012197/) made ANGT history for Barcelona as the point guard dished out 17 assists in his team’s 118-46 win over ALBA Berlin. Jakucionis’ 17th assist - a pass to Abdrahmane Kone - passed the previous mark of 16 held by two fellow Lithuanians playing for Zalgiris Kaunas: Marius Grigonis in 2011-12 and Arnas Velicka in 2015-16. 

“I am thankful the coach put me back in to break the record,” said Jakucionis, who also topped the previous ANGT Finals mark of 13 assists, done three times, most recently by Andrej Musicki in of Mega MIS Belgrade in 2022-23.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kasparas Jakucionis from <a href="https://twitter.com/FCBbasket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FCBbasket</a> U18s set a new ANGT all-time record with 17 assists in today&#39;s Round 1 game of the Berlin <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AdidasNGT?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AdidasNGT</a> Finals👏 <a href="https://t.co/UJiJaMhatx">pic.twitter.com/UJiJaMhatx</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1793639402637512812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 23, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Kasparas Jakucionis sets new assists record

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The Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals is off and running at Uber Eats Music Hall in Berlin. Catch all the games live on YouTube and follow commentary from international junior basketball expert David Hein on EuroLeague.net throughout the weekend!

ANGT Finals: U18 PFBB INSEP Paris 85-69 U18 Overtime Elite

U18 PFBB INSEP Paris v U18 Overtime Elite (2024-05-23T13:45:00.000Z)

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ANGT Finals: U18 FC Barcelona 118-46 U18 ALBA Berlin

U18 FC Barcelona v U18 ALBA Berlin (2024-05-23T11:30:00.000Z)

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ANGT Finals: U18 ratiopharm Ulm 70-101 U18 Mega MIS Belgrade

U18 ratiopharm Ulm v U18 Mega MIS Belgrade (2024-05-23T09:15:00.000Z)

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ANGT Finals: U18 Real Madrid 92-67 U18 Milan 

U18 Real Madrid v U18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (2024-05-23T07:00:00.000Z)

How cool is this? The best players in Europe competing with giants in the youth game like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, PFBB INSEP Paris and Mega MIS Belgrade and facing one of the up-and-coming talent developers in the United States with Overtime Elite - and all this playing in a rock and roll hall in the metropolis of Berlin. 

ANGT Finals ready to rock Europe with some of the best of the best

The Uber Eats Music Hall has witnessed great performances from the likes of Taylor Swift, Macklemore, George Ezra, Jason Mraz, Olivia Rodrigo, Slash and the Beach Boys. And now the walls of the facility at Uber Platz will see the future stars of basketball with the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals.

The 2024 ANGT Finals includes a very strong field of clubs aiming for the crown as European club champions - a grouping of eight teams that have won the crown in eight of the 20 editions to go with a combined six more appearances in the ANGT Championship Game.

[Fans coming to Uber Eats Music Hall from Thursday, May 23 to Sunday, May 26](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/news/tickets-for-2024-angt-finals-now-on-sale/) can also expect to see some of the most highly-regarded talents on the continent - including Hugo Gonzalez and Egor Demin of Real, Kasparas Jakucionis and Dame Sarr from Barcelona, ratiopharm Ulm’s Noa Essengue, Urban Kroflic and Jack Kayil of Mega and Nolan Traore and Nathan Soliman from PFBB.

Soliman only turned 15 years old on May 14 but he is already considered one of the next great prospects of European basketball. And Barcelona has with the team the 12-year-old Mohamed Dabone. And that is really what the 20 years of this event have been about - giving the basketball world a glimpse of the future of European basketball. Many ANGT alumni have gone on to play in the NBA or starred in the EuroLeague.

The specialty of the 21st edition of the ANGT is history being made with Overtime Elite being on hand - the first time a United States-based team will compete in the event.

“It’s a blessing that these guys get to experience this, that they open this up to Overtime Elite, that they thought enough of us to put us in it. We’re humbled, and we’re going to come out and perform the best we can,” said OTE coach Doug Martin.

[Overtime Elite](https://overtimeelite.com/) is a league based in Atlanta, Georgia that features eight teams and is for players aged 20 and younger. Martin coaches the City Reapers team that won the 2023-24 season crown.

This ANGT Finals is also special because the arena is located just a stone’s throw from Uber Arena, where the EuroLeague Final Four will be played. But the organizers faced a major undertaking to get to this point. The Uber Eats Music Hall, which in 2019 hosted the world championship of League of Legends, had to be refurbished with most of the seating covered and a court laid in the middle.

The result is a basketball venue that is ready to live up to the musical history of the hall and show some of the greatest the world has to offer.

How cool is this ?The best players in Europe competing with giants in the youth game like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, PFBB INSEP Paris and Mega MIS Belgrade and facing one of the up-and-coming talent developers in the United States with Overtime Elite - and all this playing in a rock-and-roll hall in the metropolis of Berlin. 

U18 Real Madrid has been the leading force of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament for nearly the last decade, but the Spanish powerhouse will face stiff competition at the 2024 ANGT Finals with a loaded field looking to dethrone the reigning champion. 

Will Real Madrid‘s reign continue at loaded ANGT Finals?

U18 Real Madrid has been the leading force of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament for nearly the last decade, but the Spanish powerhouse will face stiff competition at the 2024 ANGT Finals with a loaded field looking to dethrone the reigning champion. Real is one of four clubs to compete this week in Berlin that has hoisted the trophy at Europe‘s premier youth club competition - the others being U18 FC Barcelona, U18 PFBB INSEP Paris and U18 Mega MIS Belgrade. The remaining four teams competing in group play from May 23-25 at Uber Eats Music Hall are host U18 ALBA Berlin, U18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, ANGT Finals debutant U18 ratiopharm Ulm and a select team from the United States-based Overtime Elite program - the first time a US team is competing in the ANGT Finals.

The eight teams are broken down into two groups of four with the teams in each group facing each other in a round-robin format. The two group winners will square off in the ANGT Championship Game on Sunday at 12:30 CET to crown the 2023-24 continental champion.

Group A consists of Real, Mega, Milan and Ulm while Group B features Barcelona, PFBB, ALBA and OTE.

Real has claimed the title a record four times - in 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023. The Spanish side also reached the final in 2014. Real has played in the ANGT Finals in each of the last nine seasons and booked its spot in Berlin by winning the ANGT Podgorica qualifying tournament. Mega has been the closest team to Real in recent years in terms of results - winning the crown in 2022 and reaching the championship game in 2017 and 2019. Mega received a wild card for Berlin after it took fifth place at ANGT Belgrade. 

Milan finished second at ANGT Belgrade, losing to Barcelona in the first-place game. The Italian side‘s only previous ANGT Finals showing came as EuroLeague Final Four host in 2014. Ulm will be making its first ANGT Finals appearance after it won the ANGT Dubai, becoming the first German club to win a qualifying tournament.

In Group B, Barcelona will be playing in the ANGT Finals for the 11th time. The Catalan side won its lone championship in 2016 and has lost in the final game three times: 2008, 2013 and 2021. Barcelona, which beat Real Madrid in the final of the Spanish U18 domestic championship earlier this month, made it to Berlin by winning the ANGT Belgrade. PFBB is one of six teams to win two or more ANGT crowns along with Real (4 times), U18 CSKA Moscow (3), U18 FMP Belgrade (2), U18 Rytas Vilnius (2) and U18 Zalgiris Kaunas (2). PFBB took the crown in 2010 and 2017. The famed French institution lost to U18 Next Generation Team France in the ANGT Paris first-place game but was given a wild card for Berlin. 

This will be the third time ALBA is playing in the ANGT Finals with the other instances coming when the German capital hosted the EuroLeague Final Four in 2009 and 2016. ALBA slumped to sixth place at the ANGT Podgorica but received a wild card for the season-ending event. The final team in Group B also received a wild card and will be making its much-anticipated ANGT debut. Overtime Elite will send a select team to Berlin, representing some of the best young talent in the eight-team U20 league based in Atlanta, Georgi

ANGT FINALS NEWS

Seven other loaded squads, including a few exciting newcomers, will be out to dethrone 'Los Blancos'

Will Real Madrid's reign continue at loaded ANGT Finals?

One of the young stars of the American team at the ANGT Finals is already living up to his famous surname

OTE's Jayden Wilkins will be rooting for great-uncle's ex-team, Panathinaikos 

[Jayden Wilkins](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/jayden-wilkins/013166/) bears the name and weight of three former NBA stars in his family, but the young Overtime Elite star will be wearing his famous surname with pride at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals. And he will be rooting for his great-uncle's former team Panathinaikos Athens at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. 

Wilkins is the son of former NBA player Damien Wilkins while his grandfather is 13-year NBA star Gerald Wilkins and his great-uncle is Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins. 

"It's an honor and a privilege to have the name Wilkins, and I don't take that lightly," said the 2008-born Jayden. "I wear that name on the back of my jersey with pride, and it motivates me on the days where I might be struggling because I know the men before me helped pave the way for me. What I focus on is building a legacy for myself without ever forgetting where I came from – and using the things I learned from them to be the best version of myself."

Wilkins stressed he is not worried about being Damien, Dominique or Gerald. He just wants to be Jayden – and he doesn't feel the pressure some might think he faces.

"I don't feel pressure to be just like any of them because I am my own person, but it's great to have someone to talk to about the challenges I face and I know they will be honest with me about my growth and development. I've been able to see with my own eyes how much work it takes to get to where I want to be, so having them in my corner supporting me means a lot," Jayden said.

His father Damien told a US newspaper that Jayden is probably the best shooter in the family – to which he said: "If my dad says it, it must be true, right? Ha! But that's the part of my game that I have the most confidence in right now, and it's because I'm in the gym every day working at it."

When asked what he would like to have from each of his family member's game for his own game, Jayden offered: "From my dad – his attitude and overall leadership. When he played, he was the guy that everyone looked up to and could count on, so I definitely want that from him. From my great-uncle – his athleticism and consistently playing hard no matter what's happening in the game. From my grandfather – his elite defensive skills."

Jayden Wilkins, Highlights: U18 Overtime Elite

Jayden has completed his first season in the OTE league, for which his father serves as general manager and head of basketball operations.

"I like OTE because I have all the access and resources to get better at my fingertips every day – the coaching, the weight training, the skills development – everything is customized for me. There's no other place like it where I can have as many coaches and staff dedicated to making me a better player. And the competition is crazy because you have the best high school players in the country all in one place. I'm going against the best guys day in and day out, so I'm really forced to push myself daily," he said. 

Wilkins is playing for the RWE team and he won last season's Next Up award as the top underclassman in the league. Wilkins is excited and motivated to be traveling to Germany to face the best Europe has to offer.

"I'm always looking for new ways to challenge myself and get better, and this will be another opportunity to do that. Going up against the best of the best is only going to make me better. Our team is really excited to showcase our own talents as well on this European stage," he said. 

Wilkins naturally will be looking to win as many games as possible at the ANGT Finals. But he also wants to experience the rest of the atmosphere around the EuroLeague Final Four – including rooting for Panathinaikos, where his great-uncle Dominique played and with which he won the EuroLeague title in 1996. 

"I'm definitely going to be watching and hopefully getting to experience some of the atmosphere around the games. It's my first time in Berlin, and it's going to be cool to see the team my great-uncle played for in the Final Four – definitely going to have to support them," he said. 

His surname, Wilkins, comes with pedigree, and Jayden Wilkins is ready to do it justice at the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament Finals in Berlin. 

The Romanian forward found a new source of self-belief after scoring 34 points against U18 Crvena Zvezda

Big game at ANGT Belgrade changed U18 Milan's Denis Badalau

[Denis Badalau](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/denis-badalau/012114/) had a Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade to remember, and an up-and-down day in Serbia changed the U18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan forward, who now wants to make history for Romania at the ANGT Finals. 

Badalau was extremely excited when he heard the news that Milan was given one of the wild cards for the season-ending tournament in Berlin. 

“For me personally, it was great news, because it is a new opportunity to perform at the highest level. As a team, after our performance in Belgrade we are eager to prove that we belong there and to show again what we can do on court,” said Badalau, who was named to the All-Tournament Team as Milan took second place at ANGT Belgrade.

“It was the last chance for me to be at the ANGT Finals and I’m very pleased that we will be there along the best U18 teams in Europe. Every team is taking it to the next level and that means we have to as well.”

Milan will be appearing at the ANGT Finals for the second time after the club hosted the event as part of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in 2014. 

U18 Real Madrid lost to U18 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade in the 2014 ANGT Championship Game. The 2015 ANGT Championship Game was a repeat between those teams and Real Madrid won the title - the first of its record four U18 continental crowns. One of the leading figures for Real in the 2015 final was Emanuel Cate, who collected 11 points, 8 rebounds and 8 blocks in a 73-70 victory. 

Cate was also the first Romanian player to appear at the ANGT Finals. And Badalau will be the second - a fact about which he is very proud. 

“I’m always proud and satisfied when I can represent my country in top-level competitions,” said Badalau, who averaged 21.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 5.5 fouls drawn for a PIR of 22.5 at ANGT Belgrade. “I take every competition as an opportunity to represent something bigger than myself and that carries weight. I’ve taken this concept with me everywhere I go. And I’m so grateful to represent also Romania and give it all my best.”

Denis Badalau Highlights, U18 Milan

The native of Giurgiu - a city about 50 kilometers from Bucharest - left Romania in 2021 at age 15 and went to E3 Energy Todi. One year later he joined the Milan organization and last season played in the ANGT Milan and averaged 14.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.8 steals.

Badalau did that despite being a year underage for the event and expectations were high that he would play well at this season’s ANGT Belgrade. Badalau had a first game to forget against the U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade with just 7 points on 3-of-16 shooting for a performance index rating of 3 - albeit a 75-68 victory.

That game tipped off at 11:00 local time. By the time Milan faced host U18 Crvena Zvezda Belgrade at 17:00 later that day, Badalau had a completely different mindset.

The 1.97-meter forward connected on 13-of-20 shots - including 3 three-pointers - in scoring 34 points to go with 11 rebounds and 5 assists for a PIR of 38. The game was all the more thrilling as Zvezda’s Andrej Kostic scored 32 points, but in vain as Milan prevailed 97-90.

“That game has a special meaning for me. It was the second game of the day, and the first one didn't go as I expected. I was a little bit down and before the game, a very important person to me told me: ‘Give them something to talk about.’ And I just did it,” he said. 

“Besides the points I scored and what I did on court, I can say that game changed something in me as a player and helped me a lot to really believe in myself.”

That new-found belief in himself will undoubtedly help Badalau as he looks to make more history for Milan - and Romania.