The 2016 calendar year will be remembered for serving up some sizeable slices of women’s basketball history and few would have thought that Germany would emerge as one of the nations to record a memorable high-tide mark.

Playing in Udine [which is the Italian city that will host the 2017 FIBA Women’s U19 World Championship], Germany took the FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship by storm as they reached the last four of the competition for the first time, before taking one purposeful step even further forwards as they landed in the title game itself.

They eventually left Italian soil clutching a precious and historic silver medal after being eased out by perennial powerhouse Spain. And, as the plane wheels lifted up from the runway at Venice airport, several of their top performers will have had the pleasure of knowing they had left their mark and simultaneously alerted smart College coaches across the States as to their impressive development and still untapped potential.

Many of those same performers had left a nice impression a year earlier during the same competition in Matosinhos and walking into the gym for their very first warm-up in Italy, Germany certainly looked big, strong, athletic, focused and inevitably well drilled. I remember expressing my excitement courtside to Blue Star’s main man Mike Flynn – although even I had not expected them to post such a landmark tournament.

Not least, because they were playing without their so-called marquee player from a year earlier, in Nyara Sabally.

Also in attendance courtside and making it a Blue Star treble was Dan Bowmaker from Blue Star Europe, whose unrivalled in-depth knowledge of the youth scene on the Continent places him in a great position to feedback on Germany’s historic accomplishment.

“The German team were undoubtedly going to be one of the better teams this year based on the players I had seen play the previous summer, who were a year young and they were set to have Sabally who is a top-class and game-changing player,” explained Bowmaker.

“However it was interesting to note that one of the [German] parents told me that they were a better team without her and that definitely needed to be the case as Nyara got injured early in the preparation phase – meaning the team came together as a result of her absence.

“I had also noted a positive and improving trend from the Germans in terms of their performances at youth events in recent times. At each edition, they have had competitive teams, but maybe just lacked one or two pieces.

“I saw the likes of Satou Sabally (Oregon commit) and Leonie Schutter play in the North Sea Development Cup back in 2012 and they were surrounded by other good players that got them promoted from U16 Division B during 2014 in Tallin.”

He added, “That team success provides confidence and raises expectations amongst the younger players coming through and with added consistency of National Team coaches, they have been able to carry that momentum forwards and reach new heights.”

Those who performed exceptionally well in Udine were Luisa Geiselsoder who was eventually crowned MVP despite not being on the gold-medal team and she was joined in the All-Star Five by her team-mate, Leonie Fiebich. Both forwards were highly effective, with Geiselsoder leading the way with 14.7 points per game, while Fiebich was the best on the boards with 11.6 per game and also in efficiency.

I actually thought Emily Bessoir was a top prospect – or at least if she can develop in these next critical few years. She is a 2001-born forward and at just 14-years-old, I was impressed with so many facets of her game. She is destined to be a leading light in Germany’s defence of their title next summer.

Coming a year after the surprise emergence of Portugal who made the 2015 Final, Bowmaker believes that Germany making some serious noise is a big positive – although he was also quick to add a note of caution as he believes it wasn’t exactly a classic year in terms of the overall quality on display across the U16’s.

“It’s great for European youth basketball to have a team step forward and be a real contender at the top level,” he enthused.

“It keeps the Division A competition fresh and must surely provide inspiration to the ‘Yo-Yo Division B’ promotion teams that you can not only survive in Division A, but also excel if you have a good healthy generation!

“But, I do think overall the standard of this year’s Division A competition was lower than it has been in past years, so perhaps it was an easier year to come under the radar and steal the glory.

“However, you have to credit the German team for their resilience and getting the job done; and especially when arguably their best player in Sabally was absent.”

For the very best in-depth insight and scouting of the emerging European players, contact Dan @Bluestareurope