Consistent building on it brings Ludwigsburg major youth success

To encourage the development of more young local talents, the Basketball Champions League requires its teams to register at least 5 Home Grown Players on the game score sheet (if 11 or more players listed, otherwise 4 if the roster has 10 or fewer players). Once a month, we will look and see how one of the BCL clubs work to develop their young players.

LUDWIGSBURG (Germany) - Thousands of basketball clubs around Europe aim to develop a successful youth program. MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg's secret to creating theirs is based on a simple concept - just consistently build on it step by step. Add a pinch of luck here and there and voila.

Ludwigsburg have seen the trio of under-22 players Lukas Herzog, Johannes Patrick and Jacob Patrick play a combined 184 minutes in 19 appearances through eight games in the Basketball Champions League Round of 16, totaling a combined 49 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

 
Those three youngsters represent two of the multiple building blocks the club has incorporated into their youth program and has ended up churning out talent.

The easier jump into this tale of talent development are 2001-born Johannes Patrick and his 2003-born brother Jacob Patrick - sons of head coach John Patrick. The Ludwigsburg playcaller was present at his sons' practices from the very beginning - starting at the U14 level.

"John was really invested in the youth program from day one, and we never really had that,"said Timo Probst, the youth coordinator of the club's youth team Porsche Basketball-Akademie. "John was just there all the time. A lot of that had to do with his sons and that connection, but he knew every youth player."

It was that interaction that eventually led Probst and the other leaders in the club to change up their approach regarding their youth teams.

John Patrick has been at Ludwigsburg since 2013

"We're in year nine with John as head coach, which is not normal for this business. Things are going great. When we realized this is probably going to be a long-term thing with John, we gravitated more and more towards the approach of having certain things that we do throughout our youth teams, especially with the (U19) NBBL team," Probst said.

Not fun facing Ludwigsburg - any team

The playing style concepts in the youth ranks over the years got closer and closer to those from the pro team, and for the last four years, the U19 NBBL team head coach has always been an assistant coach of John Patrick.

"The development of our own players is very important for us as a club. Not only because they bring a high degree of identification for our fans but because we put an emphasis on teaching them our philosophy and style of play from an early age and pushing them to get experience at the pro level as soon as possible," said club chairman Alexander Reil.

Defense and intensity naturally are two of the main trademarks from Patrick that were installed into the youth teams in order for youngsters to easily step into pro practices.

"It just sucks to play against us at every level. It builds identity within the program," Probst said.

Ludwigsburg were questioned a bit by other teams in the German league about the approach. The concern: If the BBL coach is changed, you have nothing. But the club is betting on Patrick staying - and it's paying off.

"The last three years have really been amazing as a youth program, seeing how our guys make the jump and contribute to a winning team," Probst said.

The 20-year-old Herzog is a great example of that strategy working. He debuted in the BCL during the 2017-18 season and with his eight games this season has already logged 13 appearances in three BCL seasons in his still young career.

Lukas Herzog was well prepared for the pro team

"Luki is probably a prime example of a guy who was prepared for that the whole time he's been here - since he was 13 ... He really benefited from the approach that we adopted the last couple of years," Probst said of Herzog, who has already appeared in 78 domestic games for Ludwigsburg's pro team - including playoffs and German Cup appearances.

2020 playoff bubble justifies plan

Some of those playoff appearances came in the bubble tournament to finish of the 2019-20 season. Ludwigsburg's concept of having their youngsters play the same style paid major dividends as the team got major contributions from Herzog, the Patrick brothers, 2002-born Ariel Hukporti as well as then 19-year-old Radii Caisin.

 
With the added help from the youngsters, Ludwigsburg were able to execute their defensive system despite games being played every other day and the club reached the finals to finish second in the league - the club's best-ever result.

"You make it to the final because you played those young guys, not despite you playing them. I'm a firm believer in that," Probst said. "A lot of other teams played really short rotations and they were done at some point. And we just got those great contributions. All of a sudden you had four or five guys who gave you quality minutes."

Probst said it also sent a clear message to young players looking for a place to develop.

"It's been a huge thing for us. It shows everybody out there that you can really get a chance here. And if you're ready for that you can develop into a BBL player."

Ground-breaking youth development

But Ludwigsburg's youth development doesn't just date back to Patrick's arrival. The club was one of the first programs in Germany to have a full-time youth coach way back in 1989 - Cäsar Kiersz, who is still working with the club.

"It was groundbreaking at that point," Probst said. "That's where it started. We kind of had a head start in terms of structure. That's where the tradition came from. We've always been good with youth teams. We just thought about how could we build on that."

Ludwigsburg had already produced a few players including Probst's brothers Mario and Nico Probst as well as Kosta Karamatskos, Phillipp Heyden and David McCray. But the whole effort took off in 2009 when Ludwigsburg started their academy with most of the facilities already existing, including two schools, two gyms, outside courts, an outdoor sports stadium weight room and cafeterias.

Ludwigsburg chairman Alexander Reil 
(photo credit: Tatjana Klee)

"For us it is very important to have a holistic approach, which means we not only care about the development as an athlete but also as a person and student," Reil said. "We generally care about our guys very much and support them in all aspects of life. Our coaches do an amazing job here which makes me very proud."

The club received access to a new dormitory with monitored living assistance for minors to help their young players who were still in school. The facility allowed Ludwigsburg to attract players outside the region as well.

With the infrastructure in place - all of which is owned by the city and shared with other sports clubs in Ludwigsburg - MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg started producing even better youngsters. The likes of Besnik Bekteshi, Stefan Ilzhöfer, Robert Zinn and Johannes Joos all had successful youth careers - also playing for Germany's youth national teams.

 
"They were unbelievable talents and unbelievable youth players, but none of them made the jump here, which was really tough to accept at some point as youth coaches. But it also hurt us a bit," Probst admitted. "Guys looked up to Besnik, he was phenomenal. 'Oh man, this guy doesn't make it? How am I going to make it?' So we really longed for those guys who made it."

The first player in recent times to really make the jump from the youth teams to the pro side was Quirin Emanga, who debuted in the Basketball Champions League in 2017-18 and played seven games in the BCL in 2018-19, averaging 2.0 points and 1.4 rebounds as an 18-year-old.

Second team promotion

While the academy has turned into a major factor in Ludwigsburg's push, another important date in the club's development curve came on January 28, 2020 when the Patrick brothers as well as Hukporti - another of the club's top talents it has produced - helped BSG Ludwigsburg to an 84-63 road victory over Reutlingen in the 2nd Regionalliga fifth division. That win came after Reutlingen had won the first matchup that season 82-71, and it meant the Ludwigsburg would finish first in the league and make the jump to the fourth division 1st Regionalliga.

"That was huge. For the structure of our club that was the most important step we could take," Probst said. "That was our biggest goal for years, to make that jump. And it actually became more and more important because the level of the 2nd Regionalliga had dipped over the years."

That meant the club's players in the NBBL team would have a chance to play against better competition in addition to the U19 league.

Thoughts of third division

Ludwigsburg have actually been playing very well this season in the fourth division with a 10-5 record - tied for third place with just three wins fewer than league leaders MTV Stuttgart.

"The development of the team and our guys throughout this season with the good competition that we have is pretty amazing to be honest. My biggest goal for this season was to stay in the league, and now we have to think about if we want to move up to (third division) ProB, which is wild to think about," Probst said.

The third division would mean an entire different level of competition, but Ludwigsburg team leaders would only make the jump if they think their young players could handle it on their own.

Timo Probst
(photo credit: Christoph Worsch)

"We want our young guys to be the leaders of that team. We want to put them in situations where they decide if we win or lose," Probst said.

When looking at goals for the future, Probst said the club really hopes to keep its coaches in place - many of whom have been with the club for a long time.

"That is something I have great pride in, and I can really say this is the biggest part of why we can do what we can do. To keep that together is always my goal every year - and to keep building on that. It is huge to have that level of consistency and excellence," Probst said.

Not the end of the line

Probst emphasized that fans of the club can expect more youngsters to be coming soon.

"A couple of guys are the next in line. This shouldn't feel like the end of the road after Jake (Jacob Patrick). We have great talent in our youth team," he said. "The 2005-born and 2008-born generations look really promising."

In addition to Herzog and the Patrick brothers, the 2002-born Nico Santana Mojica is also included on Ludwigsburg's BCL roster as well as 2003-born Paul Minjoth - both of whom have already made appearances in the BCL this season as did 2003-born Emmanuel Ugbo.

 
"I just hope we can continue that trend. We have something great, but we want to continue building, building, building," Probst said.

Just build on it … that is the MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg way.