Future Stars tournament returns after 4-year hiatus

The Future Stars international under-18 tournament returns from 1st to the 3rd of September at Brunel University in West London.

After a four year hiatus due to COVID, the UK’s top international tournament – which is free for spectators – returns with a line up of Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania), Stella Azzurra Academy (Italy) and Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg (Germany), along with regulars England Under-18s and a London United select team.

Having started as an international competition that saw the under-18 national teams from the likes of Spain, Italy, France and Croatia come to the UK, the tournament features an illustrious list of alumni including Rudy Gobert, Tomas Satoransky, Dario Saric and Jan Vesely.

The tournament, which is hosted in partnership with Basketball England and sponsored by Always Ballin, will be accompanied by an international coaching clinic on Saturday 2nd September (tickets cost £60 – more info here).

“It is incredibly exciting for us to restart Future Stars after the covid break especially bearing in mind the line up of teams that we have assembled,” Jack Majewski, Director of Future Stars stated.

“We have three European powerhouses competing against the best talent in England which is the only way to develop UK based players. In terms of quality of Junior European basketball this tournament is unrivalled in this country.”

England U18 Men’s Squad

Emmanuel Adeniyi, Southwark Pride
Adam Coxon, Myerscough College
Josh Haworth, Reading Rockets
Ludlow Hewson, Kent Crusaders
Joe Lloyd, Team Solent Kestrels
Daniel Nwauzu, Myerscough College
Timothy Oboh, Kent Crusaders
Isaac Round, Reading Rockets
Lewis Smith, Myerscough College
William Taylor, Team Solent Kestrels
Mou Wol-Cummings, Southwark Pride
Chris Yapo, Leicester Warriors

Head Coach – Jay Williams
Assistant Coach – Kieran Wright
Team Manager – Leah Page

Steve Bucknall, Head of Talent and Performance at Basketball England added:

“Future stars is the best youth age domestic tournament in our country and has been for a number of years, ever since I coached in their first Future Stars event. As for performance, our increased awareness of providing elite players with better competition opportunities is a key strategy in developing our emerging talent.

“We want to accelerate the growth and learning of tactical skills, technical and mental robustness required by our players so they can win big games at the Euros. The emphasis at the Future Stars event has always been the development of our aspiring coaches and the athletes and this year will be no exception.

“Throughout my extensive years as a player and coach from UNC, Lakers and European Leagues I have experienced that better performers only get better by being in environments which push their boundaries and test their ability to handle pressure. The Future Stars tournament has always provided us with this type of environment.”

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