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 D and see what we can expect from all three teams.
Guess Who's Back?
Our hosts from Season 1, Tofas Bursa, are back again and join Rytas Vilnius as the only two clubs to have reached the podium in both editions of the Youth Basketball Champions League.
They finished second in 2023 when they hosted and ended another strong campaign last year with a third-placed finish.
This year, they have a strong cast of returning characters and a roster stacked with players from the Turkish National teams in the U16 and U17 age groups.
Berkay Gonul, Emirhan Serbest, who was almost certainly Tofas' best player last year and represented Türkiye as they finished third in the 2024 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup, Kerem Çorumlular, who averaged 4.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists for Türkiye in the 2024 FIBA U16 EuroBasket, Soykan Bahadır, another member of the Türkiye U16 roster and key member of Tofas' U16's that finished third in Türkiye last year, are all expected to play prominent roles for a Tofas this year.
You can also watch out for Enes Akman and Yucel Basaran, who both made considerable contributions last year, and 2.12m, 2009-born center Emir Karabulut, who has just returned to Türkiye from Barcelona and is one of the country's hottest prospects in the 2009-born generation.
Tofas are stacked and ready to make another deep run in the YBCL.
Tofas aren't the only team returning from last year with a crew of players who know what it takes to win games in the YBCL. Czech powerhouse ERA Nymburk are back again for their third spin on the wheel in this competition and after finishing tenth in 2023, and seventh in 2024, they will no doubt be looking to improve again.
Head coach Jan Kosar also has a roster stacked with familiar names and National Team talents to count on.
Small forward Matyas Benda is the son of Nymburk legend Petr Benda, and shooting guard Bar Amiel is the son of former Nymburk head coach Oren Amiel.
2008-born Krystof Davidek is one of the biggest talents in Czechia, having played for the U16 and U18 National Teams. He is the MVP of the U17 Czech league and averaged 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks whilst shooting a team-high 71.4 percent from the field in last year's YBCL.
Also, keep an eye out for Rafael Kai Lawrence Malek, Adam Placek, and Thomas Stanko who all played in last year's YBCL.
2.03m power forward Stanko is a Slovakian National Team member at the U16 and U17 age groups and put up 12 points and 5.3 rebounds in last year's competition. He has had an injury-hit season but will be looking to make an even bigger splash this time around.
The Favorites
Nymburk certainly look like a real threat to every team in this competition, but given their track record in this competition and the fact that we will be in Türkiye and playing in familiar surroundings, Tofas have to be the favorites for not only this group, but also one of the big contenders to win the whole competition.
This is an academy project that has recently produced talents like Ege Demir, Berke Buyuktuncel, Ata Atsuren and Batin Tuna.
They consistently promote players from the Bursa area and regularly stock the Turkish National Teams with important players throughout the different age groups.
Their U18 squad reached the Final of the Turkish League in 2024 and most of this squad was involved.
When you look at how many of them have experience from the third-place run in the YBCL last season and also strong campaigns with their National Teams last summer, it's clear they have everything it takes to make a deep run again.
The Wildcards
Newcomers Spartak Office Shoes fit the bill perfectly for the Wildcard team in Group D. They will not only be making their debut, but also be the first-ever Serbian club represented in the YBCL.
This season the club from Subotica had teams in the playoffs of the United Serbian League for juniors and cadets, and head coach Nikola Nikolic has some interesting talents to call on.
2009-born point guard Ognjen Simjanovski is part of the Serbian U16 national team for this summer, whilst Pavle Steljic, Luka Kockar, and Vukasin Kovacevic are all names to watch out for.
The One to Watch
This group is absolutely loaded with big talents and the likes of Krystof Davidek, Thomas Stanko, and Ognjen Simjanovski all look set to make their marks on this competition, there is no doubt that Tofas' Emirhan Serbest will be one you have to watch this year.
Serbest put up 8.5 points and 11.3 rebounds last time out in the YBCL and recorded multiple double-doubles and highlight plays along the way.
The 2.05m forward is a bouncy athlete, has a real nose for rebounds, loves a hustle play and will take it to the rack against anyone.
Tofas expect Serbest to be a serious candidate to make the senior team sooner rather than later and the YBCL is the perfect place for him to stake his claim and show that he can make it count in a professional environment.