This weekend, the attention of European basketball fans will be focused on the EuroLeague Final Four taking place in Abu Dhabi. Alongside the men’s competition, the best young basketball talents will also compete to crown their champion, including the U18 Zalgiris Kaunas team.
The U18 Zalgiris delegation departs for the NextGen Finals tournament this Tuesday.
Zalgiris will compete in Group B alongside last year’s champions, U18 Real Madrid’s team, Pole France INSEP team, and the Overtime Elite squad, composed of USA’s top young prospects.
Group A features the youth teams of FC Barcelona, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Mega MIS Belgrade, and Dubai Basketball.
“We’re leaving for Abu Dhabi this Tuesday. On Wednesday, we have a training session at the game arena, and on Thursday we’ll start against the INSEP academy. All twelve players, along with the staff traveling with the team, believe in this squad and its potential. We have proven that we deserve to compete in the NextGen Finals, but we won’t stop there - we plan to make the most of this opportunity,” said Andrius Gopenas, head manager of the Zalgiris youth team.
On Thursday, May 22, at 13:30 Lithuanian time, Zalgiris will face Pole France INSEP. On Friday at 13:30, they will play U18 Real Madrid, and on Saturday at 15:45, the Kaunas team will take on Overtime Elite.
The tournament concludes on Sunday, May 25, with the final between the winners of the two groups.
All games will be available to watch on the official EuroLeague YouTube channel.
Zalgiris Kaunas roster for the EuroLeague youth final tournament:
00 Ilja Kurucs
3 Dominykas Urbonavicius
4 Kajus Mikalauskas
5 Galius Cerneckis
8 Nojus Mistautas
12 Majus Bulanovas
15 Dominykas Daubaris
16 Ignas Stombergas
24 Dovydas Buika
35 Maksim Brnovic
55 Dominykas Grunkis
71 Martynas Barzdaitis
