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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.
| # | Player | Age | Date | Team |
| 1 | Aleksandar Ugrinoski | 15y 8m 22d | 28-01-2004 | Cibona VIP Zagreb |
| 2 | Can Maxim Mutaf | 15y 10m 14d | 23-11-2006 | Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul |
| 3 | Manuchar Markoishvili | 15y 10m 23d | 10-10-2002 | Benetton Treviso |
| 4 | Gino Cuccarolo | 16y 0m 0d | 26-11-2003 | Benetton Treviso |
| 5 | Ricard Rubio | 16y 0m 3d | 24-10-2006 | DKV Joventut |
| 6 | Uros Tripkovic | 16y 0m 28d | 09-10-2002 | Partizan Mobtel |
| 7 | Damir Markota | 16y 1m 11d | 06-02-2002 | KK Cibona VIP |
| 8 | Ioannis Karamalegkos | 16y 1m 22d | 11-11-2010 | Panathinaikos Athens |
| 9 | Dzanan Musa | 16y 5m 8d | 15-10-2015 | Cedevita Zagreb |
| 10 | Enes Kanter | 16y 5m 11d | 30-10-2008 | Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul |
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[lptitle title=”Dzanan Musa“]
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Cedevita Zagreb
(Guard, 2.03 m.)
8/5/1999
Dzanan Musa is the youngest of all and the 9th youngest player who ever played in a Turkish Airlines Euroleague game in the history of the competition. He made his debut with Cedevita Zagreb on the premiere of the season against Olympiacos Piraeus and, in fact, was in the starting line-up! He played for five minutes and scored 4 points, leaving some very good impressions with his audacity. He’s Bosnian, he plays along the perimeter and he’s known for his “killer instinct,” and in the most recent U16 Eurobasket he emerged as the top scorer and the MVP of the tournament. It looks like it’s a matter of time before he takes over the big stage of European basketball.
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[lptitle title=”Luka Doncic“]
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Real Madrid
(Guard, 1.98 m.)
28/2/1999
A few months ago, Luka Doncic became the youngest athlete to play in Real Madrid’s colors in the Spanish championship. And a few months later, within the first quarter of the first game of this year’s Turkish Airlines Euroleague season, he also got the baptism of fire in the Continent’s top competition in Russia against Khimki Moscow Region. The Slovenian guard got his basketball education with the madrileños from the age of 13, he can play in both positions along the perimeter and he’s gotten his father Sasa’s genes, who was a professional basketball player in his youth. Luka Doncic led Real’s youth team last year and won the EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT in Madrid, a few hours before Real Madrid won the Turkish Airlines Euroleague trophy in the final.
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[lptitle title=”Dino Radoncic“]
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Real Madrid
(Forward, 2.02 m.)
8/1/1999
In Madrid there is a second… minor who is ready to demonstrate from a young age that he’s ready to make his presence felt at the highest level of European basketball. Dino Radoncic will become 17 in two months and in the comfortable 98-71 win over Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade, Pablo Laso used him in the last two minutes of the game, giving him the chance to introduce himself to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague’s audience. The Serbian forward belongs to Real since last year and he seems like he’s making great strides covering both positions along the perimeter.
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[lptitle title=”Frank Ntilikina“]
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Strasbourg
(Guard, 1.88 m.)
29/12/1998
One of the biggest talents in European basketball, Frank Ntilikina went one step further compared to most of his coevals. Vincent Collet trusted him on the premiere of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and used him for 12 minutes in Strasbourg’s game against Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade. The French guard, who was born in Belgium, has been in Strasbourg’s rotation, the team that destines him for a major role in that rotation. He’s a pass first point guard and he’s distinguished for his athletic qualities and his natural abilities.
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[lptitle title=”Borisa Simanic“]
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Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade
(Forward, 2.09 m.)
20/3/1998
When a player under the age of 18 makes his debut in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, it’s common for him to play for only a few minutes so he can get some playing time and mostly to gain experience. However, in his debut in the Euroleague in Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade’s colors, Borisa Simanic played in Spain against Real Madrid for 28 minutes, he scored 10 points (with 2/2 two-point field goals and 2/4 three-point field goals), collected 4 rebounds, made 2 blocks and a steal and generally played like a 27-year-old instead of a 17-year-old… The Serbian power forward has a developed scorer’s instinct and he demonstrated it from early on against the best.
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[lptitle title=”Dragan Bender “]
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Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
(Forward, 2.11 m.)
17/11/1997
Dragan Bender was born in Bosnia, grew up in Croatia and for him the curtains of the big stage of European basketball opened in Tel Aviv! For a year now, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv has trusted the young Croatian’s talent and shortly before he reached adulthood, threw him in at the deep end, in fact giving him a central role in the team. On the premiere in Russia against CSKA Moscow, he played for 18 minutes and scored 7 points (1/2 free throws, 3/6 two-point field goals, 0/1 three-point field goals) and in the next game against Unicaja Malaga he was on the court for 13 minutes! He has a high basketball IQ, rich athletic qualities and it looks like his competitive ceiling is very high.
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