By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Loaned from Anadolu Efes, 19-year-old Mehmet Efe Demirel joined Karsiyaka in the Basketball Champions League. Besides developing his talents with the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague outfit, the youngster is a regular with junior national teams of Turkiye. Thomas Akyazili, Jerry Boutsiele, Mert Celep, Damien Jefferson, Errick McCollum, Sean McDermott, Fatts Russell, Hakan Sayili, Kenan Sipahi, Ergi Tirpanci, James Webb III, Muhsin Yasar, and Ozan Yilmaz are the remaining players for head coach Ufuk Sarica.
Reacting to Robert Ford III suffering an injury in preseason preparations, FIT/ONE Wurzburg Baskets signed 26-year-old Mike Lewis III. Returning to the BCL following the 2024 Qualification Rounds with Jonava CBet, he will play alongside Fabian Bleck, Julius Bohmer, Mike Davis Jr., Owen Klassen, Bazoumana Kone, Elijah Ndi, Nelson Phillips, Zac Seljaas, Hannes Steinbach, Max Ugrai, Lukas Wank, and Tyrese Williams.
Meanwhile, Falco Szombathely confirmed returning players in the form of 19-year-old Hansen Daniel, 20-year-old Balint Nemeth, and 23-year-old Peter Veraszto for the next season. The latter has played in nine BCL games. Kristof Bognar, Zach Brown, Marvin Clark II, Nikola Popovic, Abel Sovegjarto, and Benedek Varadi were already placed on the 2024-25 roster.
Qualifiers pack
Coming out of Delaware State, 24-year-old Kyle Johnson signed with Nokia to start his professional career. Also, 20-year-old Elias Sauramo re-signed with the Korisliiga champions. They joined Antti Ahonen, Max Besselink, Hugo Boman, Clevon Brown, Xavier Green, Tyrone Lyons, Niko Mattila, Tomas Murphy, Aamos Nikula, Santeri Roiko, and Kahron Ross in the squad.
Fellow Qualifiers outfit Caledonia Gladiators completed two more signings. Following Fahro Alihodzic, Trevond Barnes, Toto Fagbenle, Isaiah Hill, Kyle Jimenez, Fraser Malcolm, and Patrick Whelan, 26-year-old Tanner Stuckman and 23-year-old Theodore Hughes joined the team coached by Gareth Murray.
Photo Credit: FIBA