MIES (Switzerland) - Season X of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL brought plenty of excitement in the fifth and sixth week.
You know all the scores and matchups, you know about the biggest upsets and the biggest blowouts. Now it's time to focus on individuals.
It's time to continue the MVP Race for the tenth time in our history. The checkpoints are in no way official, it's more of a tool for you to keep up with the biggest favorites to win the MVP of the Season award on the final weekend of the season in May.
To figure out who has the best chance to win the award, we have to take a look at the profiles of previous MVPs in the Basketball Champions League.
Jordan Theodore (Season I), Manny Harris (II), Tyrese Rice (III), Keith Langford (IV), Bonzie Colson (V), Chima Moneke (VI), TJ Shorts II (VII) and Marcelinho Huertas (VIII, IX) all reached the Final Four, all played crucial roles in their teams getting there, all made clutch shots during the seasons and had the numbers to prove they were the Most Valuable Players.
With that in mind, during the MVP Race, we will have four serious questions to help us figure out who the leader is at each checkpoint:
(1) Does his team have a winning record?
(2) Is he the reason why?
(3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP?
(4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it?
Since this is a column and - we repeat - not in any way an official ranking, we need the grand separator to figure out the leader.
That's why the fifth question will always be random, to give you a hint of who's the guy in the lead.
This week, it's pure and simple:
(5) Is he actually a computer scientist who just happens to be very good at basketball, too?
(See? Number five is just random.)
#10 Jordan McRae (Hapoel Netanel Holon)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Nope, 2-2. (1.5) Wow we're off to a great start here. Why is Jordan on the list then? Because we're here to warn you about Jordan potentially being the MVP of the Season if Holon go on a deep run. He gets 21.3 points, with a 49-42-97 shooting split, so pay attention. Jordan is good at basketball.
#9 Mady Sissoko (Pallacanestro Trieste)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Nope, 1-3. (1.5) Yeah, this is going just fine. Why do we have a 1-3 guy here? Because Mady is mad, hey. Leads all players with four games in efficiency rating, 13.8 points, 76 percent dunking sorry shooting from the field, 9.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 22.0 efficiency rating per game. That's why. If these guys sneak into the Quarter-Finals or so, he's your MVP, right? Right.
#8 James Palmer Jr (Galatasaray MCT Technic)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 4-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Well... Yes and no. Because Fabian White Jr was amazing to start the season, and then JPJ was really good in the last two games, but there's this other guy who was great in all four. So yes. And also, no. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 17.5 points, 50 percent from deep on six attempts per game, 5.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals. All-rounder. Potential triple-double hero. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Nope, not really. (4.33) What!? It's probably that other guy who's also on this list. (4.66) Can't wait to learn all about him. James is not the MVP Race leader this week? Nope, not this week.
#7 Marek Blazevic (Tofas Bursa)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Nope, 2-2. (1.5) ...I thought we were over this. Yeah, but come on, they only lost a pair of games to Tenerife. So they are perfect against the rest of the world when you think about it. (2) Is he the reason why? Oh yes. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 17.5 points, 61.5 percent shooting, 6.8 rebounds, and an efficiency rating of 18.3 per game. This is a strong yes. YES! (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Sure. He was already a hero of some late game situations in Türkiye. But then again, they lost three of their last four games in all competitions by 10+ points, so maybe he doesn't get a chance to take the game winning shot. (4.5) Got it. Good, but not the MVP Race leader? Nope. If Tofas go on a run, yep.
#6 Tyson Perez (Unicaja)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Always, 4-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Tyson played 72 minutes this season. Unicaja are a +69 team in that time. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 11.0 points, 65 percent shooting, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 blocks and 17.0 efficiency rating in just 18 minutes per game. Incredible numbers, really. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? We will never know, because they keep on defeating everybody by double digits. (4.5) So, not the leader here? Nope.
#5 Jerrick Harding (Rytas Vilnius)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yes, 3-1. (2) Is he the reason why? No. (2.5) Excuse me!? He only played two games, sadly. So they did win one without him. But at the same time, when he's out there smiling on the court, you know you're in trouble. He's averaging 25.0 points (most in the BCL) in just 21 minutes per game. So once he gets in like four or five games, he'll be in Top 3, probably.
#4 Ante Tomic (Joventut Badalona)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 4-0. (2) Is he the reason why? Sure. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 11.3 points, 65 percent shooting, 4.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 17.5 efficiency rating per game. Also plays just 21 minutes, and Joventut were a +60 team in his 84 minutes this season. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? We'll never know because they keep beating everybody with ease. (4.5) So with no clutchness confirmed, he's not the leader of the MVP Race right now? Nope. But he could be, and you couldn't say a word about it being wrong or something.
#3 Will Cummings (Galatasaray MCT Technic)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 4-0. (2) Is he the reason why? With all due respect to Palmer and White, yes. He absolutely is. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 18.3 points, 46-40-91 shooting split, 5.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.0 steals, and 20.0 efficiency rating per game. Mady Sissoko is the only player ahead of him in the efficiency rating department among people with four games played. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? It could be Palmer, it could be Gillespie, it could be White. But it always will be Will. (5) Okay, got it, Galatasaray are loaded. Is he actually a computer scientist who just happens to be very good at basketball, too? Ooohh, close! Will's degree is in Management Information Systems, which is interconnected with Computer Science, and he's actually good at programming or building websites. But no, he's not the one we're looking for as our leader.
#2 RaiQuan Gray (AEK BC)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yes, 4-0. (2) Is he the reason why? He's the nightmare matchup, and along with Chris Silva, probably the scariest one-two frontcourt punch of this season. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 12.0 points, 56 percent shooting from the field, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists (yoo!), 1.8 steals (yooooo!), and 17.5 efficiency rating per game. Assisting and stealing like he's a guard, shooting and rebounding like he's a big. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? Yeah, he could be that guy. Gray or Frank Bartley, probably. (5) Is he actually a computer scientist who just happens to be very good at basketball, too? Nope, graduated from Florida State with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Science. So not the leader of the MVP Race (anymore).
#1 Jeremiah Hill (Elan Chalon)
(1) Does his team have a winning record? Yep, 4-0! (2) Is he the reason why? He's the clutchest player of the season, easily. (3) Does he have the numbers to be the MVP? 13.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.8 steals, but numbers don't paint the real picture as he usually plays so slow through three quarters, and then keeps on catching fire in the fourth and winning games. (4) If his team's season is on the line and they need one shot to save it, is he the one taking it? HA! Funny. (5) Is he actually a computer scientist who just happens to be very good at basketball, too? YES!!!
Jeremiah Hill graduated in Computer Science Engineering, which explains his chemistry with coach Elric Delord perfectly, since Elan Chalon's playcaller worked in computer science before implementing it to his basketball career.
No wonder the two of them are connected on another level here. There you have it, computer scientists are taking over the Basketball Champions League!
(In all seriousness, though, Hill is the kind of leader you want on your team. Teammates love him, he has been on an incredible run from the FIBA AfroBasket 2025 with Cameroon through the BCL Qualifying Round Tournament, all the way to this Regular Season. Hill is nice. That's all.)
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