Kaunas Zalgiris-2 is loaning young 205 cm tall talent Ilja Kurucs to BK Liepaja, which plays in the Latvian and joint Latvian-Estonian basketball leagues, for the next season.
“Kurucs was a very important part of our victory in the EuroLeague NextGen youth tournament last season. We are delighted with his progress. We have quite a few talented tall players on the Zalgiris-2 team for the upcoming season, so we wanted to give everyone enough minutes on the court. We decided to loan the Latvian to the Liepaja club, with whom we will cooperate on Kurucs’ further development, and we look forward to his return next season,” commented Zalgiris GM Gediminas Navickas.
The player, born in 2007, joined the Zalgiris Youth team at the end of October and played a significant role in the EuroLeague NextGen tournament, averaging just over 8 points and 5 rebounds in the final stage. He played his best game in the final, scoring 15 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and stealing the ball from his opponents 3 times against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan.
This summer, Kurucs also played for the Latvian U-18 national team, which finished fourth in the European Youth Basketball Championship. Ilja was also an important part of the team there, spending 25 minutes on the court, during which he scored almost 7.5 points and grabbed 8.5 rebounds, including 3.6 on offense.
