By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Fedor Zugic. Does that name sound familiar? He’s the youngest player to have ever played in the EuroLeague. He was 15 years, 5 months and 4 days old when Buducnost VOLI Podgorica lost to Zalgiris Kaunas (84-76) in Lithuania on February 22, 2019. Other players had to reach double that age to make their debuts in the competition.
Here are five of them.
JIMMER FREDETTE
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens | Guard | February 25, 1989 | USA
13.2 pts | 2.2 reb | 1.8 ast | 0.8 stl | 0 blk | 1.4 tov | 21:45 min | 13.1 PIR | 26 G
It was 2014 when Panathinaikos OPAP Athens tried to acquire him for the first time. Their persistence was rewarded years later and last fall Jimmer Fredette finally started playing in green. This season is his first in Europe and, by extension, in the EuroLeague, following his journey around the world, even in China (2016-19), where he got the nickname “The Lonely Master.” He must feel lonely, despite the presence of the rival defense, every time he tries to score, as he’s a master of the art of shooting. Proof of that is the fact that he’s the second-best scorer on Panathinaikos, making 48% of his field goal attempts.
LUKE SIKMA
ALBA Berlin | Forward | July 30, 1989 | USA
9.7 pts | 6.3 reb | 4.5 ast | 1 stl | 0.5 blk | 1.6 tov | 25:40 min | 16.4 PIR | 26 G
Luke Sikma is one of the American players with the most seasons in Europe – since 2011 and still going. Despite that, this season is his first in the top European club competition. EuroLeague Basketball competitions are not completely unknown to him, however. After all, he’s coming off four years in the 7DAYS EuroCup, where he was the MVP last season. Now, he’s enjoying playing basketball in the EuroLeague as part of one of the best offenses, that of ALBA Berlin, where he’s been playing since 2017. Perhaps you can’t tell so much in the standings, where ALBA is near the bottom, but Sikma is ranked 10th individually in performance index rating.
JORDAN TAYLOR
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne | Guard | September 30, 1989 | USA
8 pts | 1.5 reb | 3.8 ast | 0.5 stl | 0.1 blk | 1.5 tov | 20:16 min | 7 PIR | 26 G
Italy, Israel, Germany, Turkey, France. Jordan Taylor has traveled all over Europe since 2012. So, better late than never, this year it was time to… travel to the EuroLeague, too, after four years in the EuroCup. LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne trusted him with a spot on the roster in the club’s return to the competition, and he’s paying them back with full stat sheets, on which his average in assists – first among his teammates in this category – stand out. It’s no coincidence that he’s in the top five in terms of playing time on the team.
JONAS JEREBKO
Khimki Moscow Region | Forward | March 2, 1987 | Sweden
11 pts | 4.5 reb | 1.7 ast | 0.8 stl | 0.4 blk | 0.7 tov | 23:14 min | 12.3 PIR | 27 G
Ten years. That’s how long it took Jonas Jerebko to return to Europe from the USA. Khimki Moscow Region can feel vindicated that they convinced him to get on the plane to Russia, the third European stop of his career after Sweden (2003-07) and Italy (2007-09). His presence is one of the reasons they’re still in the race for the qualification for the playoffs, as he’s one of the four Khimki players with double-digit scoring averages, while he’s also third on the team in rebounds. His coach, Rimas Kurtinaitis, has no choice but to give him the third-highest playing time.