The FIBA U18 European Championship starting today and finishing July 14th in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina launches the youth tournament season. U18 is a special age category since some players who have not yet reached full potential at U16 or U17 can make a statement and establish themselves at the international level, while other dominant ones in younger categories can reach a plateau. It will be interesting to see which player falls into which category. In the meantime here comes a list of candidates to follow closely during the competition. In addition to my colleague Paul Nilsen’s list for the official FIBA website of his 13 players to watch (link here bit.ly/2L3OSC2), here are the 12 players I’m most looking forward to seeing play, some as key contributors right now, others as interesting developping players.

Alessandra Orsili, Italy (PG, 5’6, 2001)

Alessandra Orsili is a returnee at the event having already participated last year on homesoil in Udine where Italy finished at a disappointing 10th place. On a personal level she could be proud of her effort as she led her team, while one year younger than the rest, in efficiency, assists and steals, plus was second in scoring and fourth in rebounding. The electric Italian PG is used to featuring among the top performers for her side as just a couple of weeks before Udine she starred in Minsk during the U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup as Italy’s second best overall performer, ranking also in the top 10 for assists with 4,3 per game. She was crucial in Italy’s good tournament where they grabbed the 5th spot. Looking all the way back to her first appearance at FIBAU16Europe in 2017 in Bourges where Italy claimed Bronze, Orsili already was Italy’s second best performer. Having now concluded her second full season at senior level in Italy’s Serie A2 where she doubled all of her stats, expect her to once again be one of her teams main weapons in Sarajevo.

Petra Juric, Croatia (C, 6’1, 2002)

Petra Juric will arrive in Sarajevo one year younger than most and it might prove a bit too early for her to shine completely being surrounded by older and more physical players at her position but the quality she showed last summer in Kaunas during FIBAU16Europe and the way she grew inside the tournament from role player to key starter were noticeable. She has good size, a really soft touch, moves well and can spread the floor with an interesting mid-range game. She comes into the tournament full of confidence having won both the Croatian U17 and WABA U17 leagues playing for her ZKK Tresnjevka 2009 side. She also has courttime in Croatia’s 1st division, having played 5 times at senior level this season. All this certainly contributed to the fact that she was among the 24 invitees to the 2019 edition of Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp that took place June 9th-12th in Riga, Latvia.

Barbara Angyal, Hungary (PG, 5’8, 2001)

Barbara Angyal erupted on the youth scene in 2016 in Udine during her first FIBAU16Europe tournament where she showcased her scoring capacity and overall offensive impact leading Hungary in points and assists. The following year in Bourges, her contribution, though she still led the team in assists, declined behind strong efforts from teammates Dombai, Varga, Wentzel and Manyoky on their way to collecting the Silver medal as well as a qualification to the U17 Worlds. At the Worlds, she was back among her team’s top 3 scorers, showcasing some eye-catching long distance and clutch shooting skills, and again was their best distributor. Hungary had a solid tournament in Minsk finishing as the fourth best nation in the world. That result must have particularly motivated Angyal since the week after, at FIBAU18Europe in Udine, she led Hungary to the Bronze medal and grabbed a spot in the All-Tournament Team finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with 14,1ppg and fifth best passer. Since last summer, Angyal has played her first full season at senior level with NKE-Csata in Hungary’s 1st Division where her team qualified for the playoffs of one of  the most competitive leagues in Europe, nearly missing out on a Eurocup Women spot.

Meriem Nasraoui, Italy (C, 6’1, 2002)

Meriem Nasraoui will play her first competition with the 2001 generation having not featured in 2017 in Bourges nor in 2018 in Minsk. She is a reigning FIBAU16Europe champion and her contribution to the title was significant, particularly in the title match where she showed nerves to score crucial baskets when her team was unable to score for longer minutes almost allowing CzechRepublic to manange crazy come back from a double digit deficit midway through the 4th quarter. While Caterina Gilli lifted the MVP award og the event, it is Nasraoui who top scored for Italy and finished as their 2nd best rebounder and 3rd overall best performer, all this with limited courttime. Very physical and with quite an atypical game, she should add another strong rotation to an already strong Italian team and continue challenging herself in improving her game.

Audrone Zdaneviciute, Lithuania (G, 5’6, 2003)

One of the youngest players in Sarajevo as she just turned 16 and therefore could again feature at U16 level later in the summer (which would be a third time for her) Zdaneviciute was one of the few bright lights last year in Kaunas for Lithuania on homesoil where they finished 11th. Her fearless drives, her breaking down in transition or her restless defense were all great signs of a quality player. She shot above 50% overall displaying real finishing skills. She showed she was willing to take things into her hands if needed and could be relied on. She was Lithuania’s top scorer with over 12ppg and their 2nd best performer. She was also invited this past June in Riga to the Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp, recognized as one of Europe’s rising stars.

Lisowa-Mbaka, Belgium (G/SF, 5’10, 2001)

Maxuella Lisowa-Mbaka, a former 2017 FIBAU16Europe Division B MVP, featured last summer in Udine one year younger than the other players for a Belgium team that finished 5th and qualified for this year’s U19 Worlds in Bangkok. While she struggled at times forcing plays and being a bit one-sided in offense she still top-scored all of her teammates, ranked third in rebounds and second in overall efficiency. A versatile and restless player, Belgium will need all of her impact to make up for the no longer present trio of the Massey twins and Marie Vervaet. Her leadership mentality is not in doubt and one can be sure that having completed her first full season at senior level with the Belgian champions and EuroLeague Women side Castor Braine she will arrive in Sarajevo with added experience to back her natural physical edge up.

Janelle Salaun, France (SF/PF, 6’1, 2001)

With four of their five starters out (Iliana Rupert and Marine Fauthoux playing with the Senior NT at EuroBasket Women, Kendra Chéry and Zoe Wadoux injured), Janelle Salaun’s reputation as a fast blooming prospect will be tested greatly during the tournament, as she and Serena Kessler will carry a huge load of France’s chances to make a deep run in the competition. A late comer to the game, Salaun was already part of the group that won U16 Euro Gold in 2017 in Bourges and U17 Worlds Sivler last summer in Minsk. While very raw in Bourges where she contributed marginally, in Minsk her progression in slowly putting things together was visible though more confidence and leadership were still needed. The good thing is that she has had the opportunity to practice these aspects this season at club level with Centre Federal where she was alongside Kessler one of their two go-to players in France’s 2nd division. Her stats have more than doubled from last season and it is the mix of her size, her mobility and capacity to connect from distance that makes her a special player. Her potential didn’t go unnoticed and she is heading next season to one of France’s best clubs in recent years and a EuroCup Women side: Flammes Carolo.

Aliz Varga, Hungary (SF, 6’0, 2001)

Besides for her first outing wearing a Hungary NT jersey back in 2016 at U16 Euro in Udine where she was the youngest player, Aliz Varga has, every summer since, been a steady force for her country. In the last three competitions she took part in (2017 U16 Euro, 2nd; 2018 U17 Worlds, 4th; 2018 U18 Euro, 3rd) she always finished as one of the two best players for Hungary in efficiency, points and rebounds, showing how skilled and reliable she is. As much as her reliablity it is her poise and altruism that make her a key player and one of the biggest prospect for Hungary in the long term. Proof of it her off-season move to EuroLeague Women powerhouse Sopron where she will continue developping her skills at the highest level.

Paula Fraile, Spain (C, 6’4, 2002)

With Marta Garcia, Raquel Carrera and Nerea Hermosa already filling the forward position, not sure Paula Fraile will get a huge amount of courttime in Sarajevo, yet the Spanish center is a really promising modern big who likes to run, can stretch the floor and fights hard underneath the basket despite a rather thin frame. Her debut last summer in Kaunas, where Spain clinched Bronze, was not necessarily significant statistically but she nevertheless was her team’s 5th most used player which shows the belief put in her by the coaching staff. One year younger than the others she will at least gain experience from being part of this Spanish group, which could prove to be one of the best Spanish teams put together at U18 level ever. At club level she joined Spain’s elite program Segle XXI where she played the whole season at senior level in LF2.

Nerea Hermosa, Spain (C, 6’5, 2001)

Nerea Hermosa was the biggest improvement for Spain between U16 Euro in 2017  and U17 Worlds in 2018. From insignificant stats in 2017 (9mpg-4ppg-2,5rpg) she erupted big time at the Worlds in 2018 (24mpg-10,1ppg-8,7rpg, 3 DD) making great use of her size advantage and powerful physicality. She was Spain’s best rebounder and second overall in efficiency in Minsk and I expect this trend to continue further. She has just completed her second full season at Segle XXI playing in LF2 where slowly appears like a double-double machine in the making.

Emily Bessoir, Germany (PF, 6’4, 2001)

Germany will arrive at the tournament as the reigning champions and will bring back almost half of their last year’s roster. Of course the quality and talent of Nyara Sabally and Leonie Fibich, their two top scorers in 2018, will be missed but if one player can try to match her former teammates’ exploits it is certainly Emily Bessoir. She is one of the returnees from last year where she already was Germany’s second best rebounder and third most efficient player in the tournament. Since then she has been on fire the whole season in Germany’s 2nd division playing almost 30mpg, scoring 16ppg and grabbing almost 9rpg. As a grand finale to her regular season she posted a huge 35pts-10reb (6/13 FG3!) effort in the last game. A two-time Basketball Without Borders Global Camp invitee, a 2018 Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp member,  part of 2017 FIBAU16Europe All Tournament Team, a 2018 FIBAU18Europe champion, Bessoir is making statement after statement, Sarajevo should be no other. Her size, court smartness and guard skills make of her a complicated assignement for any team.

Laia Lamana, Spain (PG, 5’7, 2002)

Laia Lamana impressed last summer in Kaunas at U16 Euro where Spain finished third. In very limited courttime she was terrific on both ends of the floor but particularly in defense where she formed with Mama Dembele a scary defensive duet. In just 14mpg she managed to be Spain’s second best performer, second best scorer and was second best in steals. A typical classy Spanish guard with all the right skills, speed, court smartness and defensive passion, Lamana, though one year younger, looks like a key addition to this 2001-generation unit, giving the team even more depth than before.