MANISA (Türkiye) - With four groups of three teams and the first-placed team from each group going directly to the Semi-Finals, whilst everyone else goes through to Classification Games, the format of this competition leaves almost no margin for error in the Group Phase.
Each team will play twice in the Group Phase and automatically know that only two wins will be enough to stay in contention for winning the Trophy. There is no room for starting the tournament slowly and peaking at the right time.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the runners and riders in Group A and see what we can expect from all three teams.
Guess Who's Back?
Season 1 champions Igokea m:tel are the obvious place to start here. Head coach Boris Jokanovic is still leading Igokea's U19 team in the U19 ABA league and also the Bosnia and Herzegovina U19 League and last year's fourth-placed team should have plenty of talent returning this time around.
2008-born forward Vukasin Gavranovic and 16-year-old guard Mico Milovanovic should be back and this time in much more prominent roles. Milovanovic put up 8.5 points and 2.8 assists whilst shooting 43 percent from behind the arc in 2024.
Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg are also back again for their third season after classifying in eleventh last time around. Head coach Khee Rhee is also leading the squad again, but with very few returning players.
Armin Pivac is almost certainly the headline name returning for the Germans. The 2008-born 2.05m center only played two games last time out, but has taken his development up several notches since then and will play a major role this time around.
The Favourites
It's very tough to look past Igokea here. In Season 1 they won every game in the Group Phase by 20 points or more and only came unstuck against the eventual champions Rytas Vilnius in the Semi-Finals of Season 2.
Boris Jokanovic just steered his team to fourth place in the U19 ABA League with several of the U18 eligible squad making strong contributions. They will be a force to be reckoned with again.
That's not to write off Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg, however. This roster looks stacked this year and we know that every team that pulls on that yellow jersey is going to play the Ludwigsburg way with intense defense and hard graft on the glass.
We can expect hustle and grit from this team and we know they are capable of causing an upset at any moment.
The Wildcards
Newcomers Aliaga Petkimspor undoubtedly carry the threat of the unknown. We know their U18 team reached the Semi-Finals of the Basketball Youth League in Türkiye last season and they have added some National Team level talent to their roster this season.
2008-born, 2.20m center Ahmet Kerim Andic is one of the hottest prospects in Turkish basketball and has already had some big games for Petkimspor. 2007-born Berat Cevik is also considered one of the biggest talents of his generation.
Petkim are not to be underestimated.
The One to Watch
It's very tough to pick out any single player when each team looks to have some serious talent on board for this tournament, but Ludwigsburg's Julis Baumer looks primed to make a serious impact at this year's YBCL.
Having played for Germany in the 2024 U17 World Cup and putting up 7.2 points, 3 steals, 2.7 assists, and 3.2 rebounds, it was clear that 1.96m point guard was one of the biggest prospects on the continent. He has taken things up a notch since then.
After regular appearances at the senior level with Ludwigsburg's NBBL and Pro B teams, Baumer made a real name for himself in the FIBA Europe Cup, putting up 8 points and shooting 50 percent against JDA Dijon in the Quarter-Finals.