DEBRECEN (Hungary) - Last year's finalists in the Basketball Champions League, two-time Israeli Champions, seven-time Israeli State Cup, and five-time Israeli League Cup winners,  Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem are a behemoth of Israeli basketball.

Last year, their youth academy got to the Semi-Final of the Youth BCL and also to the Finals Cup in the Israeli League only losing to a buzzer-beater in overtime.

They are back again for the second edition of the Youth BCL and head coach, Rafael Beniaminov, is relishing the opportunity to test his players again.

"First of all, I think the international experience for the players to come and play and see the style of play of players from other countries is a huge benefit for us," he said.

"Secondly, it's a different size, the players are bigger than in Israel and it will be good for them to learn to defend against the size."

Much the same as last year, when Jerusalem find themselves outmatched physically, it's their team chemistry that they will look to draw on for advantages.

"The strongest thing about our game is the way we play together, the way we pass the ball, the way we penetrate and then pass-pass. Playing together is the biggest advantage that we bring here to the tournament," Beniaminov said.   

Youth BCL Players to Watch

Yonatan Hellman | Date of Birth: February 28,  2007 | G/F

2007-born wing, Yonatan Hellman, will be the main scorer for Jerusalem. Hellman is a determined scorer who goes hard to the basket and can finish.

Yuval Ben-Atar is another wing player with a flair for scoring and shooting the ball well. 

Program Alumni

Adam Ariel letting one fly for Jerusalem in the 2021-21 BCL season

Adam Ariel | Rafi Manco.

Israeli national team guard Adam Ariel played five seasons as a sharp-shooting wing for Hapoel Jerusalem.

In the 2021/22 season of the BCL, he averaged 9 points whilst shooting 48 percent from behind the three-point line.

Rafi Manco currently plays for Maccabi Tel-Aviv.