By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
With a career–high performance and an insatiable hunger for the gold, Frank Ntilikina led France to the highest spot of the podium in the 2016 FIBA U18 Championship in Samsun of Turkey!
The 1998–born guard who’s been trusted by Vincent Collet to join him in Strasbourg a year ago, scored 31 points in France’s championship victory over Lithuania with 75-68!
For France, winning this year’s U18 championship was a real bet after being eliminated by Greece in the quarterfinals last year. Ntilikina is one of the few players who took part in both events and his evolution has been more than notable this year.
Being coach Tahar Assed’s multi–use tool, he managed to finish the tournament averaging 15.2 points, 4.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 6 games.
Surprisingly, his highest efficiency score wasn’t in the final, but in the game against Italy, when he led his team with 38 points of evaluation and 23 points.
At just 18, the French point guard has managed to play in Euroleague (he scored his first points last season against Crvena Zvezda), while in February 2016 he attended the “Basketball Without Borders Global Camp” in Toronto during the NBA All-Star weekend.
This season, he shows signs of a well–shaped prospect with Strasbourg in the FIBA Champions League and the French Pro A league and the future seems only bright!