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Following our Europe’s 2001-2002 generation round-up, it’s time to take a look at how some of the main prospects on our Europe U18 watch-list have been behaving this season.

 

Billie Massey (BEL, 2000, 6’1, PF/C, Sint-Katelijne-Waver)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfYeqXuAzSa/

What an eventful last 9 months it has been for Billie Massey since August 2017 in Sopron where, at just 17,  she led Belgium to an unexpected FIBA Europe U18 Championship title, made the All-Tournament team and walked away with the MVP honors. Since then, she completed a 3rd full regular season in Belgian women 1st division playing for #4 ranked team Sint-Katelijne-Waver, made her senior NT debut during EuroBasketWomen 2019 Qualifiers in February and took part in the 2018 Basket-Ball Without Borders Global Camp in Los Angeles where she received another MVP accolades.  No doubt she will arrive at this summer’s U18 Euro, her 3rd after 2016 & 2017, full of confidence and determined to defend her title. In the meantime she is averaging impactful numbers in Belgian League so far, contributing with 25.5min-13.3pts-8.2reb on 49%FG2 & 39%FG3 (23/58) a night. Her team just qualified for the playoffs 1/2 finals this weekend, winning it’s first 6 playoff games. Interesting to see if she will again receive a call from the senior NT head coach ahead of the World Cup in September in Spain.. We shall soon know.

Becky Massey (BEL, 2000, 6’1, PF/C, Sint-Katelijne-Waver)

Becky Massey sees much less spotlight going her way than her twin sister but that doesn’t seem to bother her too much. A bigger concern of her is getting things done on the court and making a name for herself as testified by her performances at club level (also Sint-Katelijne-Waver) since the beginning of the season. She is her team’s 2nd best scorer and their most efficient player averaging 28mpg-16ppg-7.4rpg-1.74apg-18eff. As the season progresses and her team battles in the playoffs, she’s rising her game. In her last outing this weekend she came up with a massive 16pts-12reb-4ass-26eff performance to help her side reach the semi-finals. We will see her compete again this summer at FIBA Europe U18 Championship alongside Billie and Marie Vervaet which will help us find out how her good form at senior level transforms once she is back in her own age category.

 Marie Vervaet (BEL, 2000, 6’1, SF, Sint-Katelijne-Waver)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZG1mhLHw49/?taken-by=marievervaet9

Closing the trio of Belgian rising stars on this list is Marie Vervaet. As her other two friends, she is a reigning U18 European champion. A title she highly contributed to from the SF position, posting a powerful double-double of 23pts-10reb-4/6FG3 in the 1/4 finals, followed by 6pts-12reb in the 1/2 and a 16pts-6reb-4/6FG3 cameo in the title game. 2017 was also her 2nd U18 Euro after 2016. If her evolution between 2016 and 2017 is anything to go by – her stats between both events jumped from 6mpg to 27, 1.2ppg to 10.3 and 1.2rpg to 6.7 – 2018 will certainly see Vervaet impact the game in even bigger ways. Can’t wait to see how much she has progressed at next U18 Euro. Her season so far at club level, Sint-Katelijne-Waver as well, her 3rd in the senior category doesn’t necessarily jump to the eye immediately: 14mpg-4.6ppg-3rpg. But it is worth mentioning she is another Belgium’s SF rising star back-up in the shape of 1998-born team’s lead-scorer Laure Resimont, so court-time for Vervaet is a challenge. Yet she manages to make big splashes in the limited time she is granted with. In the last 2 playoff games she showed great efficiency, finishing the 1st game with 10pts-2reb in just 10min and the second with 14pts-3reb in 17min. I recommend to follow this player very closely as she is destined to play at the international level for a long time, making Belgium an even more difficult team to face. Worth mentioning she has been playing 3×3 since 2013 at U15, U18 and senior level competing in numerous international 3×3 summer events, helping her shape an even more versatile set of skills.

Aleksa Gulbe (LAT, 2000, 6’1, PF, TTT Riga)

Aleksa Gulbe decided to return to Latvia this season after spending the prior 2 shaping her skills in Italy. Her 1st Italian season (2015-2016) was spent in Ancona playing at U16 and U18 level. Her individuals results were good enough to raise the interest of Italian & EuroCupWomen powerhouse Umer Reyer Venezia which she joined for the 2016-2017 season only to be sent on a loan to Serie-A2 side Pordenone. There she posted an encouraging season averaging a solid 25min-10.5pts-7reb a game as a 16-17 year old. Her agreement with Venezia didn’t include a possibility for her to join, a main goal of hers, the NCAA before 2019 so she decided to move back to Latvia (TTT Riga) for the 2017-2018 season in order to be able to play stateside as early as fall 2018. She is committed to recently crowned WNIT champions Indiana University. Her season with Lithuanian 1st division side TTT Riga saw her get precious court-time averaging over 16min a game for an input of 11.1ppg and 4.6rpg on 56% shooting. Riga finished the Regualr Season flawless winning all of its 20 games. On an international level she competed in the Easter European Women’s Basketball League (EEWBL) where TTT Riga reached the title game only losing on a game-winning buzzer beater to Good Angels Kosice by 3 points. Her youth international career so far has taken her to the 2014, 2015 & 2016 U16 Euro, 2016 U17 Worlds (15.7ppg-6.7rpg) and 2017 U18 Euro (12.4ppg-6.4rpg). This summer she will once again suit-up for Latvia playing for a second time at U18 where her contribution and leadership will be sought by her team-mates.

Lucija Kostic (CRO, 2000, 6’2, PF, Tresnjevka 2009)

Lucija Kostic has a remarkable all-roundness to her game, especially for a forward, that just impresses the neutral observer. In a somehow similar way as her club team-mate PG Nika Muhl, she loves to be all over the statsheet. She presently plays in Croatian 1st division & in the Adriatic League (WABA) for Tresnjevka 2009. On the domestic front the season has been very successful, with her team finishing 2nd, while on the WABA front things have been more complicated as they finished last in the league. Nevertheless Lucija contributed in both competitions with big minutes and promising numbers. In domestic league she averaged 29.6mpg-8.7ppg-8.3rpg-4.7apg-1.4bspg-2.4spg-2.8topg on 53%FG2 and in Adriatic League 30.4mpg-6.5ppg-7rpg-4apg-1bspg-2spg-3topg on 47.5%FG2. You can tell she means to perform on both ends of the floor. Not only does she score and rebound, but she also displays a great passing ability to go alongside strong & dissuasive defensive skills. Last time she played in her own age category at an international level she avergaed an impactful double-double of 11.4pts-10.4reb during 2016 U16 Euro. How she will perform this summer at FIBA Europe U18 will give us a good idea of what to expect from her in coming years. Look out!

 

 

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Born to Polish PE teachers/coaches parents, involvement with sport and basketball was never a question. Eastern attention to fundamentals, athleticism, discipline and hard work eventually met Western standards through his development in the French system. Now a former player with a passion for the women’s game going back for more than 25 years, he uses his knowledge to bring insights and perspective on women's basketball internationally - with a strong emphasis on Europe and player development.

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