By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops Showcase 2024 assembled the interest of coaches, scouts, and managers inside and outside Europe, presenting a unique opportunity for youngsters to showcase their skills and be inspired by legends of the sport. The second edition of Eurohoops Showcase, following the very successful introduction in 2023, was held in Eurohoops Dome in Athens, with the approval of the Hellenic Basketball Federation and David Rivers as the official guest. The legend of European basketball from the USA watched all the games and provided invaluable advice to participants. This year’s Eurohoops showcase hosted 60 upstarts from eight European countries, aged 15 to 19. The schedule included practices, 5-on-5 games, contests, ergometric tests, reaction, speed, and explosiveness evaluations, and speeches from distinguished guests packing NCAA experience.
In the opening speech, coach Ilias Zouros, with stints at top teams of Greece, Turkiye, Lithuania, and France, and for seven years coach of the national team of Georgia, shared techniques and tactics, inspiring participants with his guidance.
Next, coach Sotiris Manolopoulos, a former head coach of the Greek national team, Peristeri, Marousis, Panathinaikos, and AEK, among more teams, and at Dinamo Bucuresti in recent years, talked about the transition to college basketball using his experience at Boston University and playing for the Terriers in the NCAA.
Also, Costis Gontikas, an international player with Greece, Lavrio player, and New York University graduate, noted current conditions in college basketball and the importance of connecting a sports career with academic education.
In addition, EuroLeague Legend, Theo Papaloukas, alongside the manager of Eurohoops Scouting and Eurohoops Colleges Kostas Psimoulis, presented Eurohoops Colleges to the Eurohoops Showcase participants, seeking to connect youngsters from all over the world to schools in the USA and promoting duel careers in sports and education.
In basketball action, players from Greece, Romania, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Hungary, France, and Spain were split into four teams, under the guidance of the Eurohoops coaching staff. Team names were Olympia, Delphi, Sparta, and Delos, ancient Greek cities, a tribute to Greek cultural heritage. Two teams representing the Hellenic Basketball Federation with players born in 2007 and 2008 also played, displaying high skill and competitiveness.
Nikos Tziallas from Greece was named tournament MVP, Paul Itu from Romania was the top scorer, and Giorgos Papastathopoulos from Greece won the three-point shootout. Other standouts were French Rohan Chabot Aelig, Bulgarian Ivan Zhivkov, Romanian Raul Mitrache, New Caledonian Kadjali Biola, and Greeks Giannis Nikolaou, Panagiotis Kalkavouras, and Panagiotis Dritselis, impressing with their skills.
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