The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. Count Yovel Zoosman of Maccabi Tel Aviv among the many who used the ANGT to propel his career, however, he is among the very few who played in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague before he traveled to his first ANGT game.

ANGT alumni: Yovel Zoosman, Maccabi Tel Aviv

Zoosman joined the Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team in the summer of 2015 and also started to play sparingly for the senior team in Israel League games. A series of injuries depleted the Maccabi squad and set the stage for him to suit up for a EuroLeague game. On December 10, 2015, Maccabi was wrapping up an 85-65 rout of Brose Bamberg at Menorah Mivtachim Arena when Coach Zan Tabak signaled to the 17-year-old to take the floor for the final 3 minutes. Zoosman took the floor alongside Taylor Rochestie, Sylven Landesberg, Dragan Bender and Itay Segev to finish out the Maccabi victory.

Less than a month later, Zoosman got the chance to shine against players his age when U18 Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv flew to Spain for the Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L'Hospitalet, one of the 2015-16 season's ANGT qualifying events. He was more than ready and took charge to the tune of 17 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks against U18 Joventut Badalona in their first game. In a tense showdown, Joventut took the lead with 44 seconds remaining and Zoosman missed twice after that as Maccabi fell 80-79. U18 Real Madrid walloped Maccabi 69-49 in the second game despite another monster effort from Zoosman with 18 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting, 7 rebounds and 6 steals.

Despite the two losses, Maccabi had a shot to reach the semifinals if it could handle U18 Union Olimpija Ljubljana in the final group stage game. Zoosman put together 19 points, 6 boards, 4 assists, 8 steals and 2 blocks as Maccabi won 82-75 to finish 1-2 and second in the group via tiebreaker. The opponent in the semifinal was a tough U18 FC Barcelona, which would go on to win the ANGT that season. Zoosman was smothered and held to 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals as Barcelona won 62-89 to win the game and reach the final. Zoosman finished his lone ANGT tournament as a member of the all-tournament team. He was the tournament leader in scoring (18.0 ppg.), steals (5.3 spg.) and performance index rating (22.8), tied for fourth in blocks (1.3 bpg.) and placed seventh in rebounds (7.5 rpg.).

Maccabi was well aware of the ace it had in its hands and sent Zoosman out on loan for the 2016-17 season to get more playing time. He returned in the summer of 2017 and has been a part of the team's rotation ever since, with his role growing from year to year. Zoosman also shined in international competitions for Israel; he led the team to the silver medal at the European U20 Championship in 2017 and a year later was the MVP when Israel took the gold medal at the same event. Last season, he broke into the Maccabi starting lineup and used his long arms and defensive mindset to frustrate opposing teams' top backcourt scorers. With his all-around game and excellent defensive attributes, Zoosman figures to be a mainstay for Maccabi for years to come and a player that the club's junior teams and future entries into ANGT events can look to as a role model.

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. From 2003 onwards, more and more players have used the ANGT to showcase their talents at a young age and gain experience in international club competition. Count Yovel Zoosman of Maccabi Tel Aviv among the many who used the ANGT to propel his career, however, he is among the very few who played in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague before he traveled to his first ANGT game.

ANGT alumni: Yovel Zoosman

angtalumni_Yovel Zoosman - U18 Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv - JT15 (photo Paco Largo)

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. From 2003 onwards, more and more players have used the ANGT to showcase their talents at a young age and gain experience in international club competition.

ANGT alumni: Nikita Kurbanov, CSKA Moscow

One of the first stars to emerge from the ANGT, then known as the International Junior Tournament, was Nikita Kurbanov, who played in the first two editions of the event with U18 CSKA Moscow. He started in one of his three appearances as a 16-year-old in 2003 in Barcelona, where he averaged 8.0 points and 5.7 rebounds. CSKA lost its final regular-season game against U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv and thus missed a chance to reach the championship game.

The following year in Tel Aviv, Kurbanov shined on a stacked CSKA side that won all of its games to take the crown. He averaged 14.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.0 block in Tel Aviv, including a 17-point, 11-rebound and 2-steal effort in a 90-62 rout of U18 Montepaschi Siena in the championship game. It was his second double-double of the weekend after posting 10 points, 13 boards and 3 blocks against U18 Hapoel Jerusalem. Among his teammates then were Anatoly Kashirov, Nikita Shabalkin and Vasily Zavourev, who were all on the CSKA roster when it won the EuroLeague in 2006, as well as future EuroCup champion Valerii Likhodei.

Kurbanov was promoted to the CSKA senior squad for the next season, 2004-05, in which he played limited minutes in 17 games. He cracked the rotation in EuroLeague games in 2005-06. Kurbanov's debut came in Round 3 against Unicaja Malaga and he scored his first points in Round 6 at Ulker Istanbul. His first big game saw Kurbanov score 11 points in 33 minutes in a 71-80 victory at Real Madrid. His defense and never-ending hustle led to Coach Ettore Messina leaning on Kurbanov for 11 minutes in the EuroLeague semifinal victory FC Barcelona in Prague before topping Maccabi for the championship.

He would remain with CSKA through the 2007-08 campaign and then spent half a season with UNICS Kazan and a full one with Spartak St Petersburg. Kurbanov was back with his boyhood club in 2009 and stayed for three seasons before he went searching for a bigger role and moved back to Spartak for one season, UNICS for another and Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar for a third. Since his return to CSKA in 2015, he has been a mainstay and a force as it captured EuroLeague championships in 2016 and 2019. Kurbanov has made 49 consecutive starts for CSKA and since 2015 he has missed only two games. His 162 games in that time lead the league and he ranks among the top 25 for the period in both steals (101) and blocked shots (54). In 228 career EuroLeague games, Kurbanov has amassed 1,065 points and 709 rebounds.



ANGT alumni: Nikita Kurbanov

angtalumni_Nikita Kurbanov - ANGT CSKA Moscow

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. After taking his first steps in basketball in his native city of Podgorica in Montenegro, it did not take long for Nikola Mirotic’s talents to catch the eye of the continent’s heavyweights and he duly signed for Real Madrid in 2005 at the age of 14.

ANGT alumni: Nikola Mirotic

Mirotic continued to make rapid progress within Real’s youth system and in May 2008 he made his first appearance in the ANGT against Zalgiris Kaunas in Madrid. The Lithuanian team won comfortably, 92-66, but a stunning individual performance from Mirotic left no doubt that he was a star in the making. In his tournament debut, he recorded a double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds) plus 5 steals and 3 blocked shots in 34 minutes on the floor.

If his debut was good, Mirotic’s next game was even better. Leading his team to a thumping 96-73 victory over Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv, Mirotic had another double-double with 25 points on 9-of-12 from two-point shooting plus and 10 rebounds. He added 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots for a performance index rating of 36, proving that this young man was already capable of doing pretty much anything on a basketball court. Mirotic was held to a quieter game (9 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block) as Real exited the tournament by losing its final group game, 100-76, against eventual champion FMP.

A few months later he was back at the ANGT to further build his blossoming reputation in a hard-to-believe fashion. The group opener of the qualifying tournament in L’Hospitalet, Barcelona, against ASVEL Basket saw Mirotic – still only 17 years old – score 24 points on 9-of-11 two-point shooting along with 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in an 89-80 victory. Then came a haul of 26 points (10-of-13 two-point shooting) plus 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots in a 65-94 defeat to Lietuvos Rytas. Not bad at all…but absolutely nothing in comparison with Mirotic’s legendary performance in the final group game against FMP, which goes down – without any exaggeration – as one of the finest individual displays ever seen at any level of European basketball.

Although Real lost 84-96 and therefore suffered elimination, the game went down in history thanks to Mirotic’s outrageous performance. He scored 35 points without missing a shot: 9-of-9 two-pointers, 1 triple and all 14 of his free throws. Then came no less than 23 rebounds (8 offensive, 15 defensive), along with 2 assists, 9 steals and 6 blocked shots. That all added up to a PIR of 84 (yes, EIGHTY-FOUR), unsurprisingly a tournament record that still stands. His 23 rebounds were also a tournament record at the time and his performances in the continent’s top youth event made Mirotic the hottest young prospect in European basketball – a status he has more than lived up to in the years that followed.

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. From 2003 onwards, more and more players have used the ANGT to showcase their talents at a young age and gain experience in international club competition. After taking his first steps in basketball in his native city of Podgorica in Montenegro, it did not take long for Nikola Mirotic’s talents to catch the eye of the continent’s heavyweights and he duly signed for Real Madrid in 2005 at the age of 14.

angtalumni_Nikola Mirotic - Real Madrid junior

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. One player who gave fans a taste of his future success in the ANGT is center Arturas Gudaitis of AX Armani Exchange Milan.

ANGT alumni: Arturas Gudaitis, Milan

One player who gave fans a taste of his future success in the ANGT is center Arturas Gudaitis of AX Armani Exchange Milan. Gudaitis played for U18 Rytas Vilnius at the 2010-11 Rome qualifying tournament and later that season appeared at the ANGT Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Barcelona for U18 Zalgiris Kaunas. The Klaipeda native played on loan for both teams.

Gudaitis, who was 17 years old for the entire ANGT campaign, came off the bench in the opening game in Rome against Lottomatica Roma and tallied 15 points and 5 rebounds in the victory. He was held to 4 points and 3 rebounds as a reserve in Rytas' only loss at ANGT Rome against Fenerbahce Istanbul, but then had 10 points and 9 rebounds in a win over Benetton Basket Treviso before collecting 11 points and 7 rebounds as Rytas knocked off KK Zagreb - a team Gudaitis would face again in Barcelona. Gudaitis averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in his four games in Rome. While Rytas did not qualify for the ANGT Finals, Zalgiris was granted a spot in Spain and brought in Gudaitis on loan and inserted the big man into its starting lineup. He tallied 6 points and 12 rebounds in the opening win over Team China before putting together 15 points and 12 rebounds as Zalgiris defeated Crvena Zvezda and finished group play with 9 points and 17 rebounds against host FC Barcelona to book a ticket for the ANGT Championship Game. Gudaitis once again totalled a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds, but they were not enough as Zagreb took the title with a 76-65 victory thanks to a historic triple-double by Dario Saric, who had 19 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. Gudaitis averaged 10.8 points and a tournament-high 14.0 rebounds in Barcelona.

Gudaitis would officially join the Zalgiris youth system in 2012 and debuted with the professional side in 2013-14. He posted 4.4 points and 2.6 rebounds as a 20-year-old in EuroLeague games. Gudaitis then had 6.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in his second EuroLeague season with Zalgiris before playing two campaigns in the 7DAYS EuroCup with Rytas. He stood out in 2016-17 with 13.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks. His rebounds average would have ranked second and he would have led the league in blocks had he appeared in enough games to qualify for the leaderboard, but Gudaitis had only played in nine games. That performance landed Gudaitis a return to the EuroLeague with Milan starting in 2017-18, in which he collected 10.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. The Lithuanian big man has remained one of Milan’s top performers since then, averaging 12.5 points and 7.1 rebounds in 2018-19 and finishing with 7.3 points and 4.4 rebounds this past season. For his career, Gudaitis has appeared in 96 EuroLeague games over five seasons and averaged 9.0 points and 5.4 rebounds while collecting 10.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 14 games in two EuroCup seasons. He also celebrated two Lithuanian league titles with Zalgiris, one Lithuanian Cup each with Zalgiris and Rytas and one Italian championship with Milan.

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. From 2003 onwards, more and more players have used the ANGT to showcase their talents at a young age and gain experience in international club competition. 

ANGT alumni: Arturas Gudaitis

angtalumni_ANGT Arturas Gudaitis - Zalgiris Kaunas - EB14

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. Vasilije Micic had just turned 16 years old when he played a key role in FMP’s triumph in the Belgrade qualifying tournament in February 2010.

ANGT alumni: Vasilije Micic, Anadolu Efes Istanbul

FMP was a true powerhouse of the continental youth basketball scene, having won the previous two ANGT titles. And the Serbian team made an early statement of its intent to dominate the qualifying event in its own city, thrashing KK Buducnost 93-64 in the opening game. Micic had a limited role in that game, but he made a major impression on defense by grabbing 5 steals in less than 11 minutes on the court.

That performance was enough for Micic to earn more playing time over the remainder of the tournament, spending at least 22 minutes on the floor in each of the four remaining games. The first of those was another resounding win, 99-67, over ASVEL Villeurbanne in which Micic made just 1-of-5 field goal attempts on a tough shooting night, but shined as a distributor with 4 assists. FMP then concluded the group phase by making it three wins out of three with a local derby thrashing of Crvena Zvezda, 88-45. Micic was outstanding, combining 11 points with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals for a game-high PIR of 19. The semifinal saw FMP overcome another local rival, Partizan Belgrade, 71-58. Micic impressed again, shooting 4 of 5 from the field as he scored 10 points while contributing 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals. The title game saw FMP taste glory by overcoming French side INSEP 77-69 and Micic starred by leading his team in scoring with 14 points plus 3 rebounds and 4 assists.

Micic’s all-round combination of scoring, assists, rebounds and snaring steals made him a hot property among talent spotters and just a few months later he left FMP to start his professional career with Mega Vizura. Despite only being 16 years old, he was quickly advanced into the senior team and made 35 appearances in the Serbian League in 2010-11. His prodigious talent was reflected in his impressive debut season figures of 8.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, and he continued to gain valuable experience with Mega over the next couple of years including a starring role alongside big man Boban Marjanovic in the club’s first promotion to the Adriatic League. When he finally stepped up to compete in the EuroLeague with a move to FC Bayern Munich in 2014, Micic was more than ready to impress on Europe’s biggest stage – and nobody who saw him in action for FMP four years earlier would have been surprised at all.



The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. From 2003 onwards, more and more players have used the ANGT to showcase their talents at a young age and gain experience in international club competition. Vasilije Micic had just turned 16 years old when he played a key role in FMP’s triumph in the Belgrade qualifying tournament in February 2010.

ANGT alumni: Vasilije Micic

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. One player who gave fans a taste of his future success in the ANGT is Alexey Shved, who guided U18 CSKA Moscow to the title in 2006 in Prague.

ANGT alumni: Alexey Shved, Khimki Moscow Region

Shved's performance helped CSKA finish a run of three consecutive ANGT crowns. Shved averaged 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.3 steals in the tournament as he showed Europe more than just a glimpse of his future stardom.

At the ANGT Finals in Prague, Shved started the tournament with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals in an 84-60 victory over U18 Cibona Zagreb. He went for 14 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals next in an 84-61 win against U18 Prague 2006. In the final game of the group stage, Shved collected 21 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, but those numbers were not enough as CSKA lost 89-87 to U18 Montepaschi Siena. CSKA, Cibona and Montepaschi all had 2-1 records, however, Shved and the two-time reigning champion advanced to the ANGT Championship Game via tiebreaker. In the title bout, Shved struggled shooting against U18 Zalgiris Kaunas, hitting just 1 of 14 shots and missing both of his free-throw tries to finish with 3 points, but he amassed 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks in leading CSKA to a 59-55 victory to complete the Moscow team’s ANGT three-peat.

That was not the last time Shved would accomplish great things. He made his professional debut the following season with CSKA and debuted in the EuroLeague on January 17, 2007, playing 2:15 minutes against Zalgiris Kaunas just a month after turning 19 years old. Shved appeared in eight EuroLeague games in 2007-08, averaging 2.8 points for a CSKA team that won the EuroLeague crown. His role grew slightly over the following seasons - more in domestic league play than in the EuroLeague, where he got into 12 games for CSKA from 2008-09 to 2010-11. Shved also played for Dynamo Moscow during the 2009-10 campaign, where he averaged 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in four EuroCup games. Shved finally broke out for CSKA in 2011-12 with 10.6 points and 3.0 assists in helping CSKA reach the 2012 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Championship Game, which the team lost in the final seconds to Olympiacos Piraeus. Shved spent the next three seasons in the NBA - 2012-13 and 2013-14 with Minnesota and then 2014-15 with Philadelphia, Houston and New York.

Shved returned to Europe in 2015 and signed with Khimki Moscow Region, with which he scored 15.9 points per game in the EuroLeague to rank fourth in the competition. Khimki played in the EuroCup for 2016-17 and Shved carried the team to the quarterfinals, where it lost to Valencia Basket. Shved led the EuroCup in scoring (22.1 ppg) and index rating (22) in addition to averages of 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals. Those numbers helped him to head the All-EuroCup First Team as league MVP. He built upon his EuroCup dominance as he won the 2017-18 EuroLeague Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy with 21.8 ppg while also getting chosen to the All-EuroLeague Second Team. Shved fueled Khimki’s run to the EuroLeague Playoffs where it lost to crosstown rival CSKA in four games. Shved was slowed down by an injury in 2018-19, but when healthy he averaged 23.3 points, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals. He would have won the scoring crown again had he met the minimum games player requirement. Shved also would have finished second in assists and fourth in steals. Shved’s outstanding play continued in the 2019-20 season with 21.4 points and 6.7 assists for Khimki, which was fighting for a spot in the playoffs before the season was called off due to COVID-19. Shved was second in scoring and third in assists at that point, making it clear to all that he is still one of the most dominant players in European basketball.



The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. From 2003 onwards, more and more players have used the ANGT to showcase their talents at a young age and gain experience in international club competition. One player who gave fans a taste of his future success in the ANGT is Alexey Shved, who guided U18 CSKA Moscow to the title in 2006 in Prague.

ANGT alumni: Alexey Shved

The EuroLeague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament has developed into one of the world's most prestigious stops for future stars in basketball. 

ANGT alumni: Nihad Dedovic, FC Bayern Munich

From 2003 onwards, more and more players have used the ANGT to showcase their talents at a young age and gain experience in international club competition.

One player who gave fans a taste of his future success in the ANGT is swingman Nihad Dedovic of FC Bayern Munich. Dedovic had recently turned 18 years old when he played his only two games in the ANGT for U18 FC Barcelona back in 2008 in Madrid, where the tournament was held in parallel with the 2008 EuroLeague Final Four.

Dedovic had already made his EuroLeague debut with Barcelona's senior team earlier that season, playing almost 6 minutes of a season-opening loss at Partizan Belgrade when he was still 17. He had 1 point and 2 rebounds in that game. At the ANGT in Madrid, Dedovic played the U18 team's last two games of four. He scored 27 against Lietuvos Rytas in his first outing, as Barcelona ran its record to 3-0 and reached the championship game against FMP Belgrade. In that final, Dedovic rang up a double-double of 29 points and 11 rebounds, but his team lost 70-80. His average of 26.5 points was the highest in that season's tournament.

Dedovic appeared in three games during the next EuroLeague season with Barcelona and also became a Spanish League champion before moving to Lottomatica Roma of Italy, where he aced his EuroLeague return in 2010-11, averaging 9.3 points as a 20-year-old starter playing alongside another rising star, Luigi Datome. Dedovic would pass through ALBA Berlin for another solid EuroLeague season before landing in his current home in Munich, where he had actually lived as a boy until age 7.

Dedovic carried his new club into the EuroLeague in 2013 and was a double-digit scorer in the competition for the next three years. After nine EuroLeague seasons overall, five of them with Bayern, he has career averages of 9.7 points and 2.9 rebounds through 124 EuroLeague games. Along with winning three German League titles together, Dedovic is the longest-serving player ever in a Bayern uniform and the current team captain, taking an iconic club to new heights in basketball.

ANGT alumni: Nihad Dedovic

angtalumni_Nihad Dedovic - ANGT FC Barcelona

The Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade first-place game was a mixed bag of emotions for Daniel Batcho of U18 CFBB Paris.

Injury taught ANGT Belgrade MVP that nothing is given

Sure, he was disappointed about losing the qualifying tournament title to U18 Partizan NIS Belgrade. At the same time, he was satisfied to have played so well as to be chosen tournament Most Valuable Player – especially considering where Batcho was just a year ago.

On Sunday in Belgrade, Batcho collected 24 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks for a performance index rating of 38 against Partizan, but CFBB ended up losing 79-67.

"I just tried to stay aggressive in the game," Batcho said afterward. "I knew I had to grab a lot of rebounds to help out my teammates."

"The toughest thing I have gone through in my life."

Batcho finished the four-game weekend averaging 14.8 points on 69.7% two-point shooting to go with 11.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and a performance index rating of 24.3. He was the tournament's best in both rebounds and PIR.

Seeing the 2.02-meter forward put up those numbers was even more welcome sight once you think back to August 15, 2018.

Batcho came into the quarterfinals of that summer's FIBA U16 European Championship averaging 10.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals. But just about 30 seconds into the game against Serbia, Batcho landed awkwardly on his left knee after making a layup. The diagnosis was a broken kneecap and Batcho had to sit out the entire 2018-19 season.

"It was the toughest thing I have gone through in my life," he says now. "It was a tough rehab, but we have a lot of great physical therapy people at INSEP and they were with me every day."

Batcho said not being able to play did actually help him, though, in his understanding of the game of basketball.

"It helped me see the game differently and watch more of it, the details. Something I didn't do before: watch more the screens and how to get the ball," Batcho says.

Most importantly, sitting out an entire season gave Batcho perspective on life.

"Nothing is given, everything is earned I have to eat well, sleep well and do everything well to show everything that I can do," he says.

The days, weeks and months of wondering if he could ever get back onto the court finally came to an end on September 28, 2019, when CFBB took on La Charite in a third-division game in France. Batcho played 13 minutes and collected 6 points and 5 rebounds.

"I was so happy, it was a big relief," he recalled.

Batcho has shown flashes of his ability this season as he tallied 7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks versus Andrezieux; collected 21 points and 11 rebounds against Chartes; and picked up 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists versus GET Vosges. For the season, Batcho averaged 8.9 points and 6.7 rebounds in 24 minutes coming into the ANGT Belgrade.

"Nothing is given, everything is earned."

It was fitting that Batcho made his loud international re-entry in Belgrade. That fateful injury in August 2018 came in a quarterfinal game against Serbia, whose team then featured eight players who also played at ANGT Belgrade this weekend: Lazar Stefanovic and Luka Tarlac from Partizan; Luka Paunovic, Mihailo Musikic, Marko Andric and Ivan Pavicevic from U18 Mega Bemax Belgrade; and Nikola Manojlovic and Lazar Joksimovic from U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.

His fateful game in 2018 had taken place in Novi Sad, Serbia, so Batcho knew how much a passion for basketball goes hand-in-hand with the talent of the country's players. That made him and his team were well aware of all they accomplished to reach the ANGT Belgrade first-place game, but also of the tough task they faced in taking on Partizan.

"We knew that it would be intense because they were playing at home," he said.

Having come all the way back to stand tall again in the country where injury first sidetracked him, Batcho has very clear what he will remember most from his comeback at ANGT Belgrade:

"The intensity – and also how you always have to be focused on the game."



Daniel Batcho was named the Most Valuable Player of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade despite U18 CFBB Paris losing in the first-place game to U18 Partizan NIS Belgrade.

CFBB Paris's Batcho chosen as ANGT Belgrade MVP

Batcho was outstanding against Partizan with 24 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks for a performance index rating of 38, but CFBB ended up losing 79-67. For the tournament, Batcho averaged 14.8 points on 69.7 percent two-point shooting, 11.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for a PIR of 24.3. He led the tournament in PIR and rebounds and ranked fourth in both two-point shooting and blocks. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Nikola Radovanovic of Partizan, Luka Paunovic of U18 Mega Bemax Belgrade, Egor Sytnikov of U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana and Nikola Manojlovic of U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.

Radovanovic tallied 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in the first-place game and averaged 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists and a PIR of 18.8 for the weekend. He was eighth in scoring, seventh in rebounds, second in free throw percentage (84.8%) and seventh in PIR. Paunovic, who helped Mega finish third, tallied 17.3 points on 71.4% two-point shooting and 50.0% on threes plus 6.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.8 steals and a PIR of 24.3. He finished tied for first in PIR, third in two-point shooting, fourth in scoring and three-pointers, sixth in assists and seventh in steals. Sytnikov collected 18.5 points on 72.2% two-pointers, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists for a PIR of 18.8. The Russian guard finished tied for second in scoring and seventh in PIR. Zvezda's Manojlovic averaged 13.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists for a PIR of 15.5.