By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Gran Canaria big man Khalifa Diop has been voted as this season’s 7DAYS EuroCup Rising Star Trophy winner by the competition’s coaches, EuroCup announced Friday.
Diop posted averages of 5.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists across 20 games this season (including four starts), to lead Gran Canaria to the quarterfinals of the competition.
Jaime Pradilla of Valencia Basket and Joel Parra of Joventut Badalona were tied for second place behind Diop in the coaches’ voting.
Per EuroCup:
Euroleague Basketball is pleased to announce that Khalifa Diop of Gran Canaria has been chosen as the 7DAYS EuroCup Rising Star Trophy winner for the 2021-22 season. Diop was voted by EuroCup coaches to win the award after helping the team win Group B of the regular season with a 12-6 record and reach the EuroCup Quarterfinals.
The EuroCup Rising Star Trophy recognizes the most outstanding player in the competition who was younger than 22 years of age on July 1 of the summer before the season started. Diop, who turned 20 in January, was a fixture on weekly highlight reels with his electric dunks and show-stopping blocked shots. Diop ranked second among Rising Star eligible players with 16 blocks. The 2.08-meter center also finished third among them with 30 offensive rebounds, fifth in total rebounds (78) and eighth in both points (114) and PIR (149).
The Rising Star Trophy is among the awards given in recognition of the EuroCup’s finest each season for their efforts on the basketball court. Diop finished first in a close race in which Jaime Pradilla of Valencia Basket and Joel Parra of Joventut Badalona were tied behind him for second place in the voting. The head coaches had previously chosen one of their peers, Dusan Alimpijevic of competition finalist Frutti Extra Bursaspor, as this season’s EuroCup Coach of the Year. The All-7DAYS EuroCup teams and the season’s MVP, for whom fans, team captains and media also voted, will be announced before Bursaspor visits Virtus Segafredo Bologna in the 7DAYS EuroCup Final on Wednesday, May 11.
Photo credit: EuroCup