MANISA (Türkiye) - Season 3 of the Youth Basketball Champions League is ready to roll again on April 22. When we tip-off this time around, we will have five new teams and two new countries represented.
The growth of this event has been dramatic and these new teams are not just here to make up the numbers. Let's get to know our latest hopefuls from Türkiye, Aliaga Petkimspor.
THE PAST
Petkimspor make the 100km trek from Izmir to Manisa to take part in their first YBCL, but this is club with a strong recent history in the Turkish youth basketball.
They won the Turkish U18 League in 2023 and reached the Semi-Finals of the Turkish U19 League in 2024, after beating Bahcesehir College Istanbul in the Quarter-Finals.
They would eventually lose to Besiktas in that Semi-Final, but established themselves as an up and coming force in Türkiye.
The club itself is still relatively young, after being founded as recently as 2013 by Petkim, a leading petrochemical company in Türkiye.
They were also only promoted to the Turkish Basketball Super League in 2020 and started their maiden voyage into continental competitions when they entered the Basketball Champions League in 2024.
THE PRESENT
This current group plays in the U19 league in Türkiye and has already won 10 road games this season and boast a 19-5 record for the season.
The most recent road win came against fellow YBCL contenders and last season's silver-medallists, Galatasaray - they are now 2-0 against Gala in the U19 Turkish Playoffs.
Head coach Ozcan Cete has been working in the club for five seasons. He is the U18 team coach and also leads the youth academy.
Ozcan can count on a roster that promises to be one of the deepest and most talented in the YBCL this year:
The 2007-born generation will be led by Onur Aslaner and Berat Çevik. Aslaner is a combo guard who plays more shooting guard and is averaging 6.4 points in the U19 league, including hitting 36 percent on three-pointers.
Cevik is a 2.09 meter power forward, who is still raw due to his lack of professional training in the past, but also considered one of the top Turkish talents in the 2007 generation to his physical talents.
The 2008-born group makes up the majority of this Petkimspor team and the first name you notice in the list is also the first person you see whenever they walk into the room.
2.20m center, Ahmet Kerim Andic is a giant amongst his peers and is also putting up strong numbers in the U19 considering he's playing two years young.
His averages are 3.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. He also played at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament in 2024, and put up 2.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists for Türkiye at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2024.
Small forward Suleyman Deniz Pulat was born in Manisa and is one of the team's most important shooters.
Yigit Kilavuz brings athleticism on defense and twins Burak Hasoglu and Cafer Hasoglu round out the 2008-born generation with Efe Teksahin, Gurkan Aydin, and Mucahit Uzel.
We also need to keep an eye out for youngsters Bekir Efe Uygur and Mehmet Akif Ozturk who were born in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
Uygur is a 2.03m forward with National Team potential and Ozturk is one of the top point guards in the 2010 generation.
THE FUTURE
Petkimspor open up their YBCL campaign against a strong Ludwigsburg team on April 22 at 12:30 and then follow that up with a back-to-back against one of the pre-tournament favorites, Igokea on April 23 at 15:00
Given their recent record in the Turkish U19 League and the size and depth on their roster, Petkimspor will go into both games with a lot of confidence. And they are going to need it.
The format of this competition is unforgiving and they will need to win both games if they want to be sure of a shot at the podium.
Considering they have recently beaten another pre-tournament favorite Galatsaray twice, Petkimspor have every reason to target a medal in Manisa.