NBA announces rosters of boys and girls teams to represent Europe at first Jr. NBA World Championship

LONDON – The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced the final rosters of the boys team and girls team that will represent Europe at the Jr. NBA World Championship, a first-of-its kind global youth basketball tournament for the top 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls teams from around the world taking place Aug. 7-12, 2018 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla.

The two teams, comprised of 10 players each, feature boys and girls from 12 countries across Europe, including four from Spain, three from Lithuania and two from England, Finland, and Sweden, respectively.   The boys team will be coached by Alessandro Nocera (Italy) and Eero Levä (Finland), while the girls team will be coached by Uros Dragicevic (Spain) and Lina Brazdeikyte (Lithuania).

The teams were selected by a committee of coaches and NBA staff following the Jr. NBA World Championship Europe Camp, a week-long selection camp in Rogla, Slovenia from April 30 – May 4. The camp, which included basketball skill development drills and five-on-five competition, featured the top 47 13- and 14-year-old players from Jr. NBA leagues in 17 countries across Europe.

“The Jr. NBA World Championship represents another exciting step in the NBA’s current youth basketball programming and development efforts in Europe,” said NBA Associate Vice President of Basketball Operations, Europe and Middle East, Neal Meyer.  “These 20 Jr. NBA participants will have the opportunity to represent their country and unite as one European team to showcase their skills on a global stage.”

The Jr. NBA World Championship will have boys and girls divisions, each comprised of 16 regional teams (eight U.S. and eight international teams) that will receive all-expenses-paid trips to compete in the inaugural event.  The Jr. NBA World Championship will include round-robin competition followed by single-elimination tournaments.  Winners of the U.S. and international brackets will play in the World Championship game on Aug. 12.

In addition to the on-court competition at the Jr. NBA World Championship, boys and girls from dozens of countries from around the world will participate in off-court activities – often alongside current and former NBA and WNBA players – including life skills education, physical and mental wellness programming and NBA Cares community service projects.

The Jr. NBA World Championship will align with the NBA and USA Basketball Youth Guidelines, which promote player health and wellness and age- and stage-appropriate rules and standards.  All coaches participating in the Jr. NBA World Championship will also be required to be trained and licensed.

More information about the Jr. NBA World Championship can be found at jrnba.com/worldchampionship.

 The following is a complete list of European boys participating in the first Jr. NBA World Championship in Orlando:

 

Name City Country
Josef Svoboda Písek Czech Republic
Marc Mendoza London England
Eric Chime Helsinki Finland
Luka Alavidze Tbilisi Georgia
Emmanouil Dimou Athens Greece
Liutauras Serkevičius Kauno r. sav., Ringaudų k. Lithuania
Javier Luque Gómez Malaga Spain
Aurimas Buskevicius Hisings Kärra Sweden
Mikai Klintman Malmö Sweden
Yiğit Ali Uysal Istanbul Turkey

 

The following is a complete list of European girls participating in the first Jr. NBA World Championship in Orlando:

 

Name City Country
Tinu Fakunle London England
Juliana Haddad Espoo Finland
Laura Di Stefano Rome Italy
Raina Tomasicka Jekabpils Latvia
Justė Veronika Jocytė Palanga Lithuania
Neda Pliatkus Kaunas Lithuania
Jovana Spasovski Belgrade Serbia
Carolina Ruiz Molina Madrid Spain
Carlota Lazaro Lahoz Zaragoza Spain
Berta Oliveras Girona Spain