David Hein - Draft Dreams In The Making

Last season Diawara averaged 5.5 points and 2.5 rebounds and helped Pau-Lacq-Orthez get back to the playoffs once again - though once again the team was bounced in the first round. That led Diawara to putting his name in the NBA Draft, though he eventually pulled it back out.

"Putting my name in the draft was the main goal since I arrived at Pau, and after the season it was time," he said. "I had some good feedback but with my agent we decided to pull it out because we thought it would be better for me to go back one year to Pau and we had the Basketball Champions League so it would be better to show myself."

With Pau-Lacq-Orthez already having been eliminated from the playoffs, Diawara has one more game in the BCL to showcase his skillset on the European club landscape.

"Individually my goal is really to take the next step, to prove that I can go to the next level, to show my progress," he said.

Progress that is being made because he followed the path of Elie Okobo.

http://www.championsleague.basketball/19-20/news/diawara-looking-to-follow-okobos-path-at-pau

FELIPE DOS ANJOS

Born April 30, 1998, Brazil, Bilbao Basket, Spain

Felipe Dos Anjos moved from his native Brazil to Spain in 2012 at age 14 and joined Real Madrid. He played for the Spanish giants' youth ranks and helped the club win the 2015 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament title alongside Luka Doncic. Dos Anjos played on loan with Burgos in 2017-18 and made his Spanish ACB debut. He signed before the 2020-21 season with Bilbao Basket. This article was published on the website for the 2016 ANGT Finals.

Tower of power Dos Anjos leads Madrid to Berlin

Felipe Dos Anjos headlines a list of five U18 Real Madrid players who will take the floor at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament for the second season in a row. He is joined by fellow centers Samba Ndaye and Domagoj Proleta, guard Miki Fons and forward Ignacio Ballespin to make Los Blancos a serious contender to repeat as tournament champ next week in Berlin. Of them all, no player has come from farther away than the 2.18-meter Dos Anjos.

A native of Brazil, the long, lanky Dos Anjos has come a long way since leaving his homeland to join Real Madrid's youth system. He had already shown so much promise as a youth with Brazilian club Esporte Clube Pinheiros that Madrid welcomed him in 2012 at age 14 - a year younger than compatriot and three-time All-EuroLeague center Tiago Splitter was when he moved to Baskonia in 2000.

Dos Anjos worked his way up Madrid's youth ranks year by year and reached a highlight in his adopted hometown last season by winning the 2015 ANGT title - the first in the club's history. Although the Sao Paolo native was a non-factor in the final against U18 Crevena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade, he played a major role in getting Madrid to that spot. Dos Anjos collected 11 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks in the final group game at the ANGT Finals against U18 VEF Riga and averaged 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks at the ANGT Finals. He had averaged 8.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks at the 2014-15 ANGT Qualifying Tournament - L'Hospitalet.

This season, Dos Anjos has not only dominated on the junior scene but has more than held his own on one of Madrid's related senior teams. He collected the MVP trophy from the ANGT L'Hospitalet this season after starring with 9.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 77 percent from the field. And for Madrid's second team in the EBA this season, he has posted 9.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, including making 3-of-7 three-pointers in his last four games.

Dos Anjos knows nothing except winning in the ANGT thus far - winning all 14 of the games his team has played over the past season and a half. And the Brazilian doesn't want to stop that streak in Berlin.

"My expectation is the same as at the ANGT L'Hospitalet. If we keep working hard, we will win the ANGT," Dos Anjos said. "We work hard every day on the court and off and we have a lot of discipline."

The professional coaching staff in the Madrid ranks has Dos Anjos on the right track and the center has also gained from the opportunity to see outgoing Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion Real Madrid work up close and to learn from its players.

During the season Dos Anjos got a bonus when he was invited to the Basketball without Borders Global Camp in Toronto in February. Dos Anjos, who turned 18 last month, received skills training in drills run by current and former pro players who had taken part in previous Basketball without Borders camps around the world.

"It was a very important opportunity for me to take part in this and compare myself to the biggest stars around the world," he said of the event. "I've learned so much: discipline, hard work. It's a long list."

For Dos Anjos, the highlight of the trip was the opportunity to meet Yao Ming, who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this summer. "He's so tall," was Dos Anjos's initial response to his session in which Yao gave lessons on life. "He's a great person, his career was incredible. He is a role model for the players here. He was a great player."

Though he still has a long way to go to reach the accomplishments of stars like Yao, Splitter and Madrid's current Brazilian big man, Augusto Lima, Dos Anjos can see the path he must follow to get there. And the next stop is Berlin.

https://www.adidasngt.com/u18/news/latest/i/6v73f787h8ey6brx/tower-of-power-dos-anjos-leads-madrid-to-berlin

PAUL EBOUA

Born February 15, 2000, Cameroon, Stellazzurra Rome, Italy

Paul Eboua has come a long way from his arrival in Italy from Cameroon, and he has turned into an NBA prospect. He developed his game at the esteemed Italian academy Stellazzurra Rome, playing at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament two seasons. In 2019-20, Eboua played for Pesaro in the Italian first division. There are two articles about Eboua. The first was published on the website for the 2018 ANGT Kaunas and the second appeared on heinnews.com in February 2019.

From Cameroon to Belgrade, Stellazzurra's Eboua emerges as top talent

Ask Paul Eboua about the challenges he faces nowadays and they are drastically different from the ones the U18 Stellazzurra Rome prospect tackled when he first joined the Italian basketball academy.

Eboua is a tantalizing talent as a 2.03-meter small forward with a wingspan of 2.22 meters. He played a major role in Stellazzurra beating U18 Zalgiris Kaunas at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Kaunas and reaching the final, where the team lost to U18 Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius. A native of Cameroon, Eboua, who turned 18 years of age in February, averaged 14.8 points and 11.0 rebounds - including 23 points and 15 rebounds in the big win over Zalgiris, the Kaunas team's first-ever loss in the ANGT Kaunas tournament. That performance helped Stellazzurra gain a wildcard entry to the ANGT Finals in Belgrade, where the Roman side will appear for the second time.

"We are coming for wins. We want to win it. This is not arrogance, but it is what we want," said Eboua, who along with Stellazzurra has been drawn into Group B of the ANGT Finals along with U18 FC Bayern Munich, 2014 continental champion U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade and 2013 winner U18 Divina Seguros Joventut Badalona.

Eboua said the Kaunas tournament was a major learning experience for him and the team.

"The most important thing we learned is that to play this kind of game, first of all we must be tough and very athletic. Exceeding our body limit is the only way," he said. "The second thing is that no game is finished until the end. That may seem trivial, but it is the truth. When two of the best teams in Europe are playing, the game can change at any minute, second or action on the court. It's easy to remember that when you are up by 20 points, but it's more important to remember when you are down 20."