In 2004, the ACB League launched the first-ever Minicopa, an under-14 tournament played alongside the Copa del Rey, in the same host city and on the same dates. More than two decades later, the competition has grown exponentially —although some would argue it has also lost part of its original essence—. Still, memories of that inaugural edition in Seville continue to bring a smile to many basketball fans, largely because of the presence of a young prodigy who was already turning heads and drawing crowds eager to witness his exploits.
His name was Ricky Rubio.
Besides the current Joventut Badalona guard —who represented the club in that tournament— only one other participant from that first Minicopa would go on to build a lengthy and successful professional career. That was fellow point guard Dani Pérez, who recently confirmed his departure from Manresa after seven seasons with the club. Pérez has played 319 games in Spain’s top league, the Liga Endesa, and also earned three caps with the Spanish senior national team after being a regular throughout the youth national teams.
But Rubio and Pérez are not the only figures from that Minicopa who would eventually make a living in basketball.
On the roster of what was then known as Ricoh Manresa, wearing No. 7, appeared another point guard. He stood just 1.62 meters tall and was listed as Xavier Pujol Estela. This summer, that same teenager will be entrusted with rebuilding one of the most historic brands in European basketball: a giant that has spent the last few years drifting away from the continent’s elite.
At 36 years old, Xevi Pujol becomes FC Barcelona’s new sports director.
Widely regarded as one of the sharpest basketball minds in Spain, Pujol’s roots are firmly planted in Manresa, a town of roughly 80,000 people located just 30 kilometers from Barcelona, where basketball is something close to a religion.
At five years old, Pujol was introduced to the game when TDK Manresa captured the Copa del Rey in what remains one of the greatest upsets in the competition’s history. Just over two years later came an even more improbable feat, as the Catalan club won the ACB title, an achievement that has never been replicated in Spanish basketball.
From that point on, Pujol became obsessed with the game. Although he stopped playing at the age of 15, basketball had already taken hold. He rarely missed a game at the Nou Congost, Manresa’s compact and intimidating home arena. A good student who even began studying Physiotherapy at university, he found himself increasingly drawn toward basketball. He would often skip classes just to watch practices of the ambitious club from his hometown.
Long before that, however, he had already shown where his future ambitions lay.
At 13, he approached then-Manresa head coach Ricard Casas with a list of players he believed could strengthen the team in the near future. A few years later, at 20, Jaume Ponsarnau invited him to join his ACB coaching staff in an unpaid role.
For two seasons, Pujol collected rebounds during practices, filmed games and training sessions, and spent his own money traveling to the United States every summer to attend NBA Summer League events. His rise never stopped. Before long, he had earned a place on Manresa’s bench as an assistant coach, working alongside respected figures such as Pedro Martínez, Ibon Navarro and Joan Peñarroya.
But his greatest strengths were not on the bench. They were in the front office.
By the age of 30, Pujol had become the youngest sporting director in the ACB, and it did not take him long to prove why. In only his second season overseeing roster construction, Manresa —once again coached by Pedro Martínez— qualified for both the Copa del Rey and the Liga Endesa playoffs.
That unforgettable team was packed with discoveries identified by Pujol, names that are now well known across European basketball: Chima Moneke, Sylvain Francisco, Ismael Bako, Joe Thomasson and Elias Valtonen among them. Most were products of his deep knowledge of the German and French markets, but also of his willingness to take risks on players that many Spanish clubs would not consider.
acb Photo / Joaquim Alberch
In a basketball culture often reluctant to gamble, Pujol consistently did.
After five seasons building rosters in Manresa —and uncovering more gems such as Derrick Alston Jr., Cameron Hunt and Jerrick Harding— Pujol moved to Baskonia last summer with the mission of reviving a fallen powerhouse.
Several seasons without a Copa del Rey appearance, followed by a campaign in which the club failed to reach the ACB playoffs, convinced Baskonia to seek a new direction in its traditionally successful recruitment model. Despite the continued presence of respected executive Alfredo Salazar, Pujol quickly left his mark.
In what remains his first and only season in Vitoria, Baskonia captured the Copa del Rey for the first time in 17 years. The three midseason additions who arrived after the campaign had already begun —Eugene Omoruyi, Gytis Radzevicius and Kobi Simmons— were all brought in under Pujol’s watch. The first two, in particular, played pivotal roles in Paolo Galbiati’s team making an unexpected run to the title.
Still, the internal dynamics of Baskonia never fully allowed Pujol to take complete control of basketball operations. Salazar remained an influential figure, and responsibilities continued to be shared.
Now, however, maybe a much bigger challenge awaits.
The institutional shake-up triggered by Xavi Pascual’s departure has forced Barcelona into a major restructuring, one that brought an end to Juan Carlos Navarro’s tenure as the club’s top basketball executive. The Blaugrana have turned to Pujol to lead what could be a defining summer.
Barça faces a major roster overhaul after the departures of Willy Hernangómez, Nicolás Laprovittola, Jan Veselý, and Tomáš Satoranský. Unlike previous summers, however, the club will also benefit from a larger budget, giving Pujol greater room to reshape the roster. He faces the daunting task of returning Barcelona to the European elite, a level the club has struggled to reach since Sarunas Jasikevicius left the sidelines.
It will not be easy.
The growing financial muscle of ambitious projects such as Dubai Basketball or Hapoel Tel Aviv, combined with the continent’s traditional heavyweights, will make Barça’s rebuilding process a demanding one.
If there is one thing Pujol has consistently demonstrated throughout his career, however, it is an ability to identify hidden gems before anyone else notices them and help relaunch their careers.
His next challenge is proving he can do the same for a club where winning is not an aspiration but an obligation, and where patience for experimentation is often in short supply.
Still, his first moves already reflect the philosophy that made his reputation. The arrivals of Tyrese Martin, Tosan Evbuomwan, and Stanley Umude suggest Barça is once again betting on players with significant upside rather than established EuroLeague stars.
Although Pujol was officially introduced on August 3, it is widely understood that he had already been working for Barça behind the scenes for weeks while still under contract with Baskonia. According to Spanish labor law, he informed the Basque club of his intention to resign two months in advance, allowing him to terminate his contract legally before taking over in Barcelona.
Then again, building successful teams at 36 is hardly new territory for the man from Manresa. People have questioned him because of his age ever since he handed that first list of prospects to Ricard Casas. The results, however, have almost always spoken in his favor.
So, even though this may well be the biggest challenge of his career, none of the previous ones were small, either.
And he passed every one of them with flying colors.