Βy Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Dario Saric has joined Jonas Valanciunas and Ricky Rubio as a multiple winner of the FIBA Europe Young Men’s Player of the Year Award by getting the 2014 title, one year after his first win in 2013.
Valanciunas was the winner in 2012 and 2011, while Rubio was reigning from 2007 until 2009. Saric led Cibona to the Adriatic league title, got the MVP title in the Final Four, got drafted in no12 and his rights ended up in the Sixers, played in the Croatian national team during the FIBA World Cup and made his Euroleague debut as a member of Anadolu Efes.
Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee Bucks finished a close second in the voting whilst Cedi Osman of Turkey, a teammate of Saric in Anadolu Efes, came third. Both players got more fans votes than Saric, with Antetokounmpo being first, but the panel of experts choice was the Croatian forward.
FIBA EUROPE YOUNG MEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2014 – FINAL VOTING
| PLAYER |
FAN VOTING |
EXPERT VOTING |
ACCUMULATED RANKING |
| Dario Saric |
13594 |
405 |
0.2530 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo |
17147 |
340 |
0.2300 |
| Cedi Osman |
15628 |
135 |
0.1184 |
| Aleksandar Vezenkov |
11711 |
80 |
0.0777 |
| Domantas Sabonis |
7433 |
101 |
0.0755 |
| Jusuf Nurkic |
9072 |
88 |
0.0738 |
| Stefan Peno |
7895 |
42 |
0.0462 |
| Federico Mussini |
6493 |
45 |
0.0434 |
| Dragan Bender |
3577 |
62 |
0.0433 |
| Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk |
5144 |
44 |
0.0387 |