By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After spending his first-ever season in the EuroLeague with Valencia, playing better and better with Alex Mumbru’s team as time passed, Jonah Radebaugh returns to the Basketball Champions League to sign with Galatasaray.
In the EuroLeague with the Spanish club, he had 5.7 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game, while putting up 6.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game in the ACB. He was about to join Lenovo Tenerife in 2022, but Valencia paid a buyout to bring him to the best European competition.
Before moving to Valencia, the 26-year-old half-American and half-Montenegrin guard played with the Swedish side Köping Stars and with the German side of MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, being named into the 2022 Basketball Champions League Star Lineup.
🦁 Yeni evine hoş geldin Jonah Radebaugh 💛❤️ #AslanGibiSavaş @Radebaugh12
🔗 https://t.co/DmSfIQAAA3 https://t.co/n2lcD0AQDu pic.twitter.com/YrR0k7kL5M
— Galatasaray Basketbol (@GSBasketbol) July 3, 2023
Tommaso Baldasso makes the jump to the BCL
Two-time Italian champion with Olimpia Milano, Tommaso Baldasso will continue his career with Bertram Derthona, as officially announced. The 25-year-old has left the team from Mediolanum Forum to join the ambitious club from Tortona, which will compete in the Basketball Champions League in the upcoming season.
“We are very happy that Tommaso has chosen Tortona for this new stage in a career that is still young but in which he has achieved very important things both at the national and club level. He has played in the EuroLeague and won two Scudetti, so we believe we have made a really important signing to strengthen the Italian and wing department with a top-class athlete with a significant future ahead of him,” said President of Bertram Derthona, Marco Picchi.
Despite spending the last two years with Olimpia Milano, Baldasso only made seven appearances in the EuroLeague, averaging 2.9 points per game. Last season, he also had a minor role in the domestic league, averaging just 2.4 points.
Baldasso made his senior-level debut with Moncalieri and joined Virtus Roma in 2016, spending four years in the Italian capital. After that, he played a season for Fortitudo Bologna before joining Olimpia in 2021. With Italy, he has represented the entire youth national team (U15, U16, U18, and U20) and made his debut with the senior team in 2020. He has 20 appearances with the senior national team, including EuroBasket 2022, where Italy reached the quarter-finals.
Another move was registered in Italy, as Jamel Morris joined Happy Casa Brindisi, which will play the Basketball Champions League Qualification Rounds. The former Lietkabelis player had 15.0 points per game between the LKL and the 7DAYS EuroCup.
Basketball Champions League moves in Germany, France, and Bilbao
After saying goodbye to Tuomas Iisalo, Telekom Baskets Bonn continues making moves this summer. The 2023 Basketball Champions League champions brought in Harald Frey, who rejoined his head coach in Göttingen Roel Moors.
The 26-year-old Norwegian guard, who had 14.7 points, 4.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game in the BBL, is excited to open this new chapter of his basketball career. “I’m thrilled to be playing for Telekom Baskets Bonn now, as it’s one of the top projects in Europe. It is an excellent opportunity to further advance my career. I want to show what I can do in Bonn, learn more, and find out what experiences await me – both as a player and as a person. Moving is never easy, but when Bonn and Coach Moors offered me this opportunity, I knew this was the right place for me”, he said.
In Germany, we will also see Jayvon Graves, who’s coming off an interesting season in the Basketball Champions League with CSP Limoges, averaging 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. In Game 3 of the Play-Ins series against Ludwigsburg, he put up 24 points and 5 rebounds. Prentiss Hubb, instead, left the yellow-and-black German side. Surne Bilbao Basket also announced the departure of Jeff Withey, Emir Sulejmanovic, and Ignacio Rosa.
If Jayvon Graves left France, Quinton Hooker moved to the LNB and the Basketball Champions League to join Massimo Cancellieri’s SIG Strasbourg. The 28-year-old played last year with Bnei Herzliya, averaging 8.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game in the BCL. “Our choice of Quinton Hooker was guided by the desire to have a solid player on the pitch and the fact of being able to trust someone who has many qualities, both humanly and as a player. He plays for the team but is also able to play for himself when the moment calls for it. We’ll see on the pitch, but on paper, his signature is very interesting. I look forward to working with him. I have confidence in him and in what he will bring us”, the Italian head coach commented on the newest addition.
🚨𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓🚨
✍️La SIG Strasbourg officialise la signature, pour une saison, du meneur américain Quinton Hooker (28 ans – 1m83).
Welcome @QuintonHooker21 😃
📰Communiqué ⤵️https://t.co/QI3DptfhGC pic.twitter.com/AgUfVLpuep
— SIG Strasbourg (@sigstrasbourg) July 3, 2023
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague