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 first Italian contenders, Pallacanestro Reggiana.
THE PAST
This is a club with a long and storied history of producing elite talent. The likes of Nicolo Melli, Gianluca Basile, Angelo Gigli, Riccardo Cervi, Ojars Silins, Arturs Strautins, Momo Diouf, Sasha Grant, and Momo Faye have all come through the Reggiana youth projects at different times.
Of those, Momo Faye and Sasha Grant both played key roles in the senior team's ride all the way to the BCL Quarter-Finals.
Grant averaged 3.5 points in 15.5 minutes and shot 43 percent from behind the arc, whilst Faye punctuated what was likely his last season before entering the 2025 NBA Draft, with 6.8 points 1.2 blocks, and 4.8 rebounds on 63 percent shooting.
Of course, Italian captain Nicolo Melli is probably the biggest household name on Reggiana's impressive list of alumni, but he isn't the biggest name with a connection to the club.
Pallacanestro Reggiana, or Reggio Emilia is the European club of one Kobe Bryant.
Bryant spent a part of his childhood in Reggio Emilia, during the time his father Joe Bryant was playing professional basketball as a player of Pallacanestro Reggiana in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During those formative years, Kobe developed a deep connection with the city, its people, and its culture.
He was actively involved in local youth basketball, even appearing in team photos from the 1989/90 and 1990/91 seasons, and spent time bonding with teammates at summer tournaments.
Kobe maintained this connection well into adulthood, returning to Reggio Emilia multiple times even after becoming an NBA superstar.
To honor Kobe and his daughter Gianna after their tragic passing, Reggio Emilia named a square after them and placed commemorative murals near the PalaBigi Arena, the city’s iconic basketball venue, which now serves as a memorial site in their name.
THE PRESENT
The team participating in the YBCL this year is also competing in the U19 National Championship in Italy, where it finished the Regular Season with 17 wins and 7 losses, and will now take part in the second phase, aiming to qualify for the National Finals.
The head coach is Marco Rossetti. Born in 1980, he was a professional player until 2016, competing in both the Italian Serie A and Serie A2, and wearing the Pallacanestro Reggiana jersey among others.
After retiring, he immediately began his coaching career, starting with the youth teams and working his way up to join the first team's technical staff.
The roster that Reggiana are bringing to the YBCL looks chock-full of talent and intriguing prospects.
One of the most exciting prospects is 2007-born, Senegalese big man, El Hadji Mame Samba Deme.
A 2.12m forward with great wingspan, who can play both inside and outside. He can be effective both in the low post and facing the basket, and on defense, he shows excellent timing for shot-blocking.
So far, he is averaging nearly 15 points per game in the U19 championship, competing against players who are one or two years older than him.
The rest of their 2007-born generation includes Filippo Carboni, Daniel Innocent Emokhare, Filippo Bardelli, Riccardo Selva, and Francesco Lusetti.
The 2008-born generation that Reggiana will arrive with in Manisa may be the most intriguing of any team at the YBCL this year. Pablo Abreu was part of the Italian team that surprisingly took second place at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 with 4.7 points and 4.1 rebounds.
He is joined by another Senegalese forward from the DBA Academy in Dakar, Babacar Samb, cousins Alessandro and Luca Manfredotti, Arseniy Hadzhyiev, who is scoring 11.3 points in the U19 league, and local talents Federico Borzacca and Lorenzo Marras.
THE FUTURE
Reggiana get their YBCL campaign started in Group C at 19:00 CET on April 22, against hosts and fellow debutants, Manisa BBSK.
They follow that up with the toughest challenge that any team in the YBCL will likely face this year: a date with the reigning champs Rytas Vilnius on April 23 at 16:30 CET.
The harsh reality of the competition is that there is no time to get comfortable in this competition. Teams need to be at their best from the opening tip or they risk losing their opportunity to make it to the podium.
Reggiana will need at least one win from the opening two games but two wins will likely be needed to guarantee a place in the Semi-Finals.