The Euroleague’s stars of the future!

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By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net

They are still underage, but they’re cruising around on the courts of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, showing that the future is theirs! In the first two weeks, six players under the age of 18 made their debuts in the competition. Here, Eurohoops.net presents them, but also the ten youngest players who have taken part in a Turkish Airlines Euroleague game in the last 15 years!

It’s not one, not two, not three, but six young players under the age of 18 who have gotten some playing time from their teams already this season. And in most cases we’re not talking about garbage time at the end of games that have already been decided. The coaches of the Euroleague teams are investing in youth and they’re showing it from the beginning.

The youngest player who ever took part in a Euroleague game remains Aleksandar Ugrinoski, who on January 1, 2004 played for one and a half minutes with Cibona VIP Zagreb against Partizan (92-69) at the age of 15 years, 8 months and 22 days. Next up is Can Maxim Mutaf of Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul, who on November 23, 2006 – aged 15 years, 10 months and 14 days – played against Winterthur FC Barcelona (84-70). The third youngest player is Manuchar Markoishvili. The Georgian forward played on October 10, 2002 with Benetton Treviso at the age of 15 years, 10 months and 23 days in a 94-73 win over Pau-Orthez.

Below, you can see in detail the table with the youngest players in the history of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. The ninth in the sequence, Dzanan Musa, got on the list in opening week of this year’s competition. Check out on the following pages the rest of the players below the age of 18 who debuted in this year’s Euroleague.

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