By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Slovenian swingman Gregor Hrovat penned a one-year contract to become the second summer addition of JDA Dijon, the team announced Monday.
Hrovat, 27, will return to the Basketball Champions League after a one-year break. Playing for Cholet, medi Bayreuth, and Petrol Olimpija, he has already made his way to 35 games of FIBA’s top European club continental competition. The Betclic Elite LNB Pro A is equally familiar as he spent the last two years in France, including the 2021-22 season as a member of Elan Bearnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez highlighted by winning the French Cup. At the international level, representing Slovenia in multiple major FIBA tournaments since 2017 has stretched all the way to the 2020 Olympic Games held last summer in Tokyo.
Earlier offseason moves for La Jeanne marked the arrival of French point guard Jonathan Rousselle, who was coming off three years at Bilbao. Gavin Ware, Jacques Alingue, and Robin Ducote all penned contract extensions, while David Holston, Chase Simon, and Abdoulaye Loum have been confirmed to be part of the 2022-23 squad as well.
Elsewhere in the Champions League, Surne Bilbao picked up 23-year-old Spanish forward Ignacio Rosa. A youth product of Unicaja, he spent the last four years playing in Spain’s second division LEB Oro.
Lithuania champion Rytas strengthened the squad with 26-year-old American forward Todd Withers. The newcomer carries BCL experience from the 2020-21 spell at Fortitudo Lavoropiu Bologna.
Bilbao, Dijon, and Rytas have all been granted a direct ticket to the Regular Season. The recent draw placed them in Group D, Group G, and Group H, respectively.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL