U16 European MVP Prkacin, Marciulionis and talented Germans headline BWB Europe Camp

MIES (Switzerland) - Many of the top 2002-born talents on the continent will converge on Riga as the 2019 Basketball Without Borders Europe Camp tips off this weekend in the Latvian capital.

The likes of FIBA U16 European Championship 2018 MVP Roko Prkacin of Croatia; Lithuanians Augustas Marciulionis and Azoulas Tubelis; and a group of German prospects highlight the group of 40 boys campers with 24 girls campers on hand at the Elektrum Olympic Center in Riga from June 9-12.

Those young talents will receive top-notch tutelage and instruction from current NBA players such as Latvians Kristaps Porzingis, Dairis Bertans, Davis Bertans and Rodions Kurucs; Sam Dekker and Jonathan Isaac; former WNBA players Anete Jekabsone and Raffaela Masciadri and former Latvian national team captain Gunta Basko; as well as Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle and current NBA assistant coaches Josh Longstaff, Jamahl Mosley and Pablo Prigioni.

Prkacin, whose father Nikola Prkacin played for Croatia at the 2008 Olympics and five FIBA EuroBaskets, helped Croatia to win the U16 European crown last summer, including the championship-winning layup with 2.8 seconds left in a 71-70 victory of Spain in the Final. Prkacin, who also played at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018, made his Cibona senior team debut this season, playing in the Premijer Liga top flight as well as the ABA Adriatic League.

Another member of the U16 European title-winning team in Riga will be Boris Tisma, who scored 24 points in the Final alongside Prkacin’s 18 points and 10 rebounds and also made the All-Star Five. A third Croatian at the BWB Europe Camp is Leo Menalo.

Another son of a big former star player who will be in Riga will be Marciulionis, whose father is FIBA Hall of Famer Sarunas Marciulionis. Augustas has played a major role for Rytas Vilnius’ second division team, as has talented all-around forward Tubelis, who led Lithuania in scoring and rebounding with a double-double average of 14.3 points and 10.4 rebounds at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2018.

Another group of compatriots who have worked their way high onto talent observers’ radars are the Germans Ariel Hukporti, Len Schoormann and Luc Van Slooten. That trio - who teamed together to play at the U16 European Championship two summers ago as a year younger - will be joined by another German in Lamin Sabally, whose sisters Satou Sabally and Nyara Sabally both had success at the national team level. Satou helped Germany get promoted at the U16 European level in 2014 and U20 level in 2017, while Nyara earned U18 European promotion from Division B in 2017 and then won the U18 European title in 2018 - Germany’s first youth continental crown in history.

Some of the other big names among the boys campers to watch are Juhann Begarin of France, Spain’s Adria Domenech, Turkey’s Tibet Gorener and Sarper David Mutaf, Zsombor Maronka of Hungary and Luka Tarlac of Serbia.

From the women's perspective, there are a number of exciting talents including the likes of Spanish trio Marta Garcia, Gisela Sanchez and Mama Dembele, plus Lithuanian forward Simona Visockaite, Croatian guard Hana Muhl and Caterina Gilli, who helped Italy win the FIBA U16 Women’s European Championship 2018 as MVP.

FIBA