By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Coming back for a second and then a third season, Youssoupha Fall has inked a two-year contract extension with LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, the team announced Tuesday.
Fall, 27, moved to the suburb of Lyon for the 2021-22 season. Coming in with the experience of two straight Turkish Airlines EuroLeague campaigns as a player of Baskonia, he averaged 5.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.3 steals, 0.1 blocks, and 0.1 assists per game over 28 appearances, including nine starts. Limited to an 8-20 record, the team guided by T.J. Parker fell short of clinching a berth in the Playoffs and instead shared the last place in the standings with Zalgiris.
The towering center, listed at 2.21 m (7 ft 3 in), was equally reliable in the paint displaying his talents at the domestic level. Tallying 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in the Betclic Elite LNB Pro A, he helped ASVEL capture the domestic league championship for the 21st time in team history. Coupled with the 2018 championship with Le Mans, it marked the second French league title individually.
Coach Parker was first to receive a contract extension this summer with Fall becoming the first player opting to come back with a new contract. Meanwhile, Nando de Colo, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Amine Noua, Retin Obasohan, Jonah Mathews, and Anthony Polite shape the packed list of summer arrivals.
Fall has also played for SIG Strasbourg and the Basketball Champions League, on loan from the Baskonia in 2018-19. On loan from Le Mans, he spent the 2016-17 season in the second division of his country attached to Poitiers.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net