The FIBA U16 and U18 EuroBasket events help me so much in tracking future talent and putting them on my watchlist at a earlier age. It’s a tradition to where the strength of generations are determined in events like these. As always, Serbia, Lithuania and France put out a strong field where Slovenian wonderkid Stefan Joksimovic is the must-watch name overall in this tournament as a projected top-five pick for the 2027 NBA Draft.
But there are many more players. In today’s article, I’ll refer to one for each country, where I’ll go for less-coveted guys for the aforementioned absolute top nations. Hereafter, I’ll write about Division B in the next three weeks, as I’ll watch those games after the tournament ends. These events are circled in my calendar for this event, and the field is strong but also the number of standout guys.
As always, I try to add more detail, so it will be a piece totalling over 3,000 words in total. Feel free to upgrade your subscription to a paid one at $6 per month or $60 per year to help me make this line of work as cost-neutral as possible!
The Israelis have a rich history in developing point guards, with Gal Mekel being the clear example. Azriel has shown tremendous flashers as a pick-and-roll creator and overall playmaker. He’s fearless in his passes and the way he plays with his pace makes him a natural passer rather than a developed one. He has good positional size while the natural instincts give him the advantage. With 8 assists to only 1 turnover against Greece, he’s putting his name on many scouting radars early in the tournament.
Azriel’s mostly a passer. The lack of shot selection hurt him in this game, as defenders limited his angles very well. When he’s not creating, Azriel doesn’t have the composure yet to find the best possible shot for himself. He took many tough shots and overall, it’s a sign for how much his passing was respected. Despite the high number of assists, he must grow his decision-making out of pressures.
That’s going to determine a lot. Regardless, Israel has another potential top guard here. I expect Azriel to be on college radars in a few years.
Zoupas stood out to me as the prototypical ‘three-and-d’ type of wing. He drilled 3 three-pointers under ten minutes against Israel and it’s easy to see what his calling card will be at the next level. It’s not rocket science to see why he’s impactful in reduced minutes. He moves away from the ball very well while using his positional size to defend guards and wings. Overall, the Greeks have a rich history of producing wings, and despite it’s still early, Zoupas should follow in these footsteps.
He’s a decent athlete but more importantly, he plays the right way. Finding his spots is no issue for him. However, surprisingly, he was left open a lot on those attempts. Regardless, the two stocks while getting stops on the perimeter and in the interior gave me the flashes I needed to see. Zoupas is a must-follow name for me for the next few years.
He’s a rim-running energy five with good screening skill. Granted, he’s by far the biggest name on Team France, but someone who caught my attention with his zero maintenance type of play. He’ll screen hard and dive after screens whereas his tremendous touch around the rim gave me the confidence he can carve out a role as a starting center in the future. He’s a strongly-built athlete who looks taller than he’s listed at. He has broad shoulders and good hips and moves very well for his size and bulk.
The free-throw shooting struggles are a classic in his archetype and Vado is having the same issues. That’s working against him with a 3-for-7 night against Austria. On top of that, he doesn’t really excel as a shot-blocker nor does he pass much out of the occassions he has the ball. The focus should be to develop a short-roll game or pass as the hub. Physically he has everything to succeed at the top of the college ranks, but the 2008-born must add more comfort as a passer and rebounder in the next few years.
The Georgia Stars standout has had a good reputation at the US grassroots level as a physical face-up four. He’s a skilled scorer with crisp footwork and some creativity. He’s tough and plays super-physical, looking to hunt mismatches and create advantages in the paint. On the defensive end that means him playing the passing lanes and playing as a shot-blocker. Despite a bulky build, he’s a good athlete with some decent vertical pop in his game.
But he’s mostly a scorer. For Austria he’ll carry the offense with his advanced scoring package. Due to his physical advantage, that’ll be the driving factor to keep his dominance at the FIBA U18 level against his peers. The floor-spacing with a 2-for-3 shooting from downtown showing serious flashes, while his 3 assists show unselfishness while he’s creating and passing out of his advantages. Kapic is a serious Division I prospect who should be on all mid-major radars.
Every time I get to see Bikic, it’s almost like he’s adding new stuff to his game. What a tremendous prospect. He’s a true guard at a wing’s size. Super-tight handles and his change of pace and composure is at such a high level. He’s an overlooked name on the star-studded Serbian squad where his skill to maximize the angles for the right shots inside the lane stand out. He’s a potentially professional scorer and plays with the creativity I’m more often seeing in the United States rather than Europe.
With great physical tools, Bikic can hunt mismatches while he’s playing a guard’s game. However, I think he’ll end up as a wing at the pros, because his slashing and scoring while adding defensive role versatility is the main sell. He plays with so much patience and looks to always make the right reads. The 2008-born plays for Beko in Serbia, and I expect him to have serious minutes in the Serbian domestic league for them. If I were a mid-major coach scouting Europe, Bikic would be one of the first name I’d take a look at!
We’re spoiled with all the positional size among guards in this tournament. I’m not familiar with Slovakian youth basketball by any means, so I’m going with the name who stood out the most here. That’s Randuska. He was the leading scorer against Serbia who tried to play a complete game as a guard. Tremendous rebounder, he really played hard and crashed the glass to sustain second-chance points while showing good touch around the rim.
He’s been mostly active and the motor was a delight to watch. It’s almost as if he was playing in the roles of multiple guys and you could see he didn’t try to shoot his way out of the respect the Serbian defense gave him. The two three-pointers he took led to misses, but the potential on that end is what I’ll focus on during this tournament. I saw a guard with positional size who mostly stood out with his interior game. More to follow, as I’ll put him on my long-term watchlist.
Not the strongest name on Türkiye’s roster, but someone who I have been monitoring for the past two years. Yıldız is a true maestro in the pick-and-roll with his decently tight handles and natural feel as a passer. He’s also super-tough and plays with a positive New York-styled ‘F-you’ attitude. With his seven rebounds against much more physical competition, that’s one of the examples. He also added seven dimes and looked to keep the ball moving to find the best possible shots for his teammates. He’s a true traditional point guard who has more of a college game as a half-court-heavy creator.
However, the scoring is rough. That has been the case ever since I started evaluating him. When he playmaking reads aren’t there, he’s not comfortable creating for his own. That’s the surprising part. But he got enough runway in this first game to look for his own advantages—with mixed results. He often settled for threes, leading to a 1-for-7 rough shooting night. There’s potential in his game, and Yıldız is mostly a offensive producer rather than a defender. The early 2008-born has enough to like, with the playmaking being the top skillset that coaches will buy.
It was ‘block-city’ for Denmark against Türkiye with 12 stops, where Drejer had four. He stuffed the stat-sheet and was the best player on the court despite their heavy loss. The Manresa-standout has a serious forward’s build while he’s playing like a wing. Decent handles, puts the ball on the deck and creates plays. The handles are very loose and it led to his six turnovers. But he’s playing without fear and looks to create advantages as a driver and physical mismatch-hunter.
The other side of the coin is that he’s forcing shots. Despite his physical dominance, Drejer took rough looks and didn’t look to pass the ball much. However, I’m excited for his future. He has serious NBA potential in the long run and I expect him to play good minutes in the Liga U (the Spanish U22 competition). Overall, he fits the mold of what NBA teams look for with his ball skills, physical tools and true role versatility. Remember the name.
In a Finals-worthy battle against Lithuania, it was, of course, the Stefan Joksimovic show for Slovenia. However, he wasn’t alone in the standout column, as Stjepanovic has proven his true scoring prowess as a guard early in the tournament. He has a great feel for the game and the scoring touch from both levels inside the arc left a great impression. He got in the paint and absorbed contact like a professional scorer. Playing off a star is a skill to itself, and Stjepanovic has shown that he’s one of the better guards in this competition on that end.
His activity as a defender stood out with his 3 steals. Playing the passing lanes actively while being a feisty defender in the pick-and-roll and point-of-attack. It’s easy to see the positives in a big performance, so I’m curious if he can sustain this high level of play. I’m confident he will because they already played and won against one of this competition’s contenders.
Overall, Kolev’s physicality and scoring prowess will lead him to garner many Division I offers in the next few years. In a 46-point blowout loss to the hands of Germany, he was the sole standout for me. He got the free-throw line and the paint with so much ease, I’m eager to see how he’ll continue to showcase that skill in the next few games. The ball security at only 1 turnover as the main guy stood out. Overall, there aren’t many other facettes of his game to fully dive in for me yet, but he’ll be on my long-term watchlist. With enough basketball in this tournament remaining, I’d advise readers to check him out as well in the remainder of the tournament.
Petric has been on my radar for a few years now. He’s a physical and tough wing who projects mostly as a shooter. While going 2-for-5 against Bulgaria, the Croatian-native stood out with his additional playmaking and handles. He’s comfortable playing the angles as a closeout attacker while actively looking to pass and keep the ball moving. That’s something I haven’t seen in his game when I first watched him. Overall, there’s enough to like here as the positional size in his game as a slasher and shooter fits many needs in college.
Overall, Germany plays a team-heavy game with individual room to play your own game. Ball movement is crisp and they’ve been getting high-quality looks as a result. Petric definitely belongs here and it’s safe to say he’s one of their best players, but not the most popular name. That’ll change soon. I’m sold and will continue to monitor the 2008-born in the next few years.
He went 3-for-3 from downtown and the shooting looks more than real. Birzinis is very easy to put in a box as a classic ‘3-and-D’ wing defending shooter. However, there can be more into his game. I remember him from the FIBA U17 World Cup, and that’s where he has shown some flashes of closeout scoring as well. He’s physical, and gets to his spots via pick-and-pops while moving good away from the ball.
Lithuanian youth basketball is famous for how they teach the fundamentals so well, and Birzinis is another example of how far ‘playing the right way’ someone can get. The numbers feel sustainable because of how natural and consistent his release his. He also has long arms and the physicality factor adds more value in him as a potentially multi-positional defender. There’s definitely Division I caliber potential here, and I’m more than sure college coaches will try to recruit him for the class of 2027 or 2028.
Abreu feels like a throw-back physical five who—despite the lack of size—was a true difference-maker inside the paint. He earned a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards while showing tremendous touch around the basket. He handled contact from taller defenders like it was nothing, while he’s a professional finisher who can create space even when he’s in tight pockets.
As much as he’s a productive five on offense, the pick-and-roll defense looked ugly at times. He made the wrong decisions more often than not, but considering the size I’m not holding it against him. This team plays him as a five, but I can’t imagine that being his natural position at Pallacanestro Reggiana in Italy. Abreu left a great impression and I’m eager to see how he can keep this production out of pick-and-roll as a finisher alive. Great screener. A lot to like here with the 2008-born for college programs to tap into.
He was the most dominant player on the court against Spain. With a 13 points and 13 rebounds double-double, Avdejev was a second-chance-scoring machine with a total of 8(!) offensive rebounds. He got everything he wanted against—on paper—the best frontcourt in this tournament. The fluidity and physical dominance was telling for the Layton Christian standout. It’s easy to see why he’s already playing high school ball out of Estonia as the blend of size, skill and fluidity is not easy to find.
He’s a gifted screener and rolls timely to finish plays with his good touch. However, bringing the ball down is a bad habit and I’m sure that’s one he copied in the States. No offense to anyone, but bad habits like these are the only things that can stop him from having a great college career. He’s already holding offers from Division I teams, with Utah Valley being one. I’m sold. He can go play high-major basketball in a few years and this tournament will provide a serious value-boost for him.
I’m a sucker for Spanish guards. They always provide flair, tight handles and great court vision. Alonso is no different as he was simply punishing Estonia’s defense with the space they gave up after his advantage creation. Great handles, good change of pace and the communication with his screener was sublime. He’s born to lead an offense, and despite getting their asses kicked physically by Estonia (27 offensive rebounds), Alonso was the spark that never put their win in doubt.
He’s getting in the paint with so much ease. Alonso’s a decent athlete at best but one whose reads are simply beyond his years. Plays with so much composure while his touch around the basket is tremendous. He’s getting to the line in bunches on Day 1 while also showing flashes of his three-point shooting. There’s no doubt he can be a future guard for the Spanish national team if he can sustain this high level of play.
Real Madrid keeps losing its players to college, but they’ll be eager to keep him or ensure that he’s signing with them after his college career ends. With the Spanish rule of players leaving their rights to their last-played club, that won’t be much of an issue. But as much as college guards should be excited, I’m moreso thinking Alonso will remain in Spain even if he’s getting better offers from NCAA programs.
Cernevskis is a super-fun shooting prospect for the long term. The 2008-born drilled 6 three-pointers on 13 attempts against the Italian defense that simply had no answer for him. He’s crisp moving away from the ball and looks super-confident in everything he does. The shooting mechanics are real and the numbers feel sustainable. He’s the best shooter I’ve seen in the first day, and I think he can keep this high level of play alive.
Despite the expected loss, he did everything he was supposed to do with his occassional creation out of closeouts while showing a true wing’s game. The production was mostly on him just launching threes. But not without an idea; he got to his spots with much comfort. Cernevskis is on my long-term watchlist as he’s still under contract in his home country at Marupes Novada, an institute for athletes.
I’m dedicating a large part of my work to college recruitment. The main focus is on the less-coveted guys so college coaches will always come across ‘new’ names for their recruitment market. Just like this article, I go in-depth in my scouting reports. My specialties are the international game, while also adding JUCO two years ago. For next season, I’m focusing on Division II as well.
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