Team Focus: Tofas Bursa

MIES (Switzerland) - Turkish club Tofas Bursa hosted the inaugural edition of the Youth Basketball Champions League and went on to claim second place in the Final.

The two-time Turkish champions on senior level are back again and looking for another great campaign.

 "Our main goal is of course to play more quality games and also to be represented with our youth team in the same competition as our senior team," said Tofas Youth Program Director Samir Seleskovic.

"It is very important to learn how to compete with other quality teams from other countries in Europe," he added.

"Being a participant in Youth BCL will give us the opportunity to check ourselves and to see our level against other European basketball clubs." - U18 Tofas head coach Caner Topaloglu

 

The head coach of the  U18 Tofas side echoed the sentiment.

"First of all, we are very happy to join this tournament for the second time," said coach Caner Topaloglu.

"As a result of our organization, we are competing in three different leagues in Türkiye with this age group of players.

"Being a participant in Youth BCL will give us the opportunity to check ourselves and to see our level against other European basketball clubs.

"Also, it will be a great experience for each player to compete with their peers," the coach added.

Youth BCL Player to Watch

Omer Alp Engin | Date of Birth: January 5, 2006 | PG

Omer Alp Engin played 11 minutes in last year's Youth BCL and put up 4.3 points per game.

The crafty point guard is expected to shine for Tofas as a leader of the group this time around.

Elsewhere on the Tofas roster there are plenty of new faces, with 10 new players compared to last year.

Batu Eryurtlu is the only other returning player, alongside Engin. Emirhan Serbest, who just turned 17 years old on March 17, is someone who potentially could take the opportunity to make his mark.

Emirhan Serbest | Date of Birth: March 17, 2007 | FC

"Emirhan Serbest who was born in 2007, is a very interesting player. He can play 4 and 5 on the court. We also expect a good performance from Batu Eryurtlu," said Seleskovic.

Program Alumni

Mehmet Ökur | Kenan Sipahi | Berkan Durmaz | Samet Geyik | Muhsin Yasar | Yigit Arslan | Tevfik Akdamar | Emre Tanisan | Berke Buyuktuncel | Bora Satir | Batin Tuna | Ege Demir | Ozgur Cengiz

Ozgur Cengiz in the 2023 Youth BCL

Whilst the list of Tofas products is stacked with big names, perhaps the most interesting one is Ozgur Cengiz who was on the All-Star Five in the Youth BCL and is now on the senior team, playing regular minutes.

Tofas will be hoping more members of the youth program can use this event as a similar springboard.