In the EuroCup, the focus usually falls on the teams chasing the trophy and the players we already know. Look a little deeper, though, and you will find names who are still at an early stage of their journey and could become much more familiar to the European basketball audience by the end of the season.
This year’s competition is full of such cases. Players coming straight out of the NCAA, young Europeans waiting for their first real opportunity, prospects who have already shown flashes of what they can do but have yet to reach the bigger stage, and players who could use the EuroCup as a springboard to the next step.
This is not a ranking, and certainly not a prediction that all of them will become stars. It is simply a watchlist for the future: the names worth keeping an eye on now, before the season decides which of them will truly stand out.
Chibuzo Agbo (Manresa)
Chibuzo Agbo is one of those players who could make the jump from an “interesting player” to a name people are talking about very quickly. The 24-year-old forward played his first season in Europe with Cholet, averaging 7.7 points and 2.6 rebounds, and has now joined Manresa on a two-year deal.
His profile immediately stands out: athleticism, defensive ability, size for his position and the ability to stretch the floor. In Manresa’s latest preseason game, he also exploded for 33 points against Coruña.
If he can carry that level of production into the EuroCup on a consistent basis, this could be the season when Agbo takes another step forward.
Jordan Gainey (Cedevita Olimpija)
Gainey did not need much time to make his first impression in Europe. After four years in the NCAA, he made his professional debut last season with Cedevita Junior, averaging 15.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2 assists in the FIBA Europe Cup, while he also averaged 14 points per game in the Croatian league.
Now he is stepping up to Cedevita Olimpija, and the difference is significant: from the FIBA Europe Cup to the EuroCup, with greater demands and considerably more attention around him.
He had already shown during preseason that he does not need much time to find his rhythm, putting up 18 points and 5 assists against Kapfenberg.
Nathan Soliman (Bourg)
Nathan Soliman is the youngest player on this list by some distance. Born in 2009, he is just 17 and has already stood out with France’s youth national teams. FIBA has identified him among the most notable European prospects of his generation, with his size, ball-handling, shooting and defense among the key elements of his game.
Bourg signed him to a three-year deal, and the big question is how quickly he can move from being a prospect to a player capable of earning meaningful minutes at the highest level.
He does not need to become a star at 17. But if he starts getting real opportunities in the EuroCup, his name will become much more familiar.
Ethan Burg (Hapoel Jerusalem)
Ethan Burg is a different kind of case. He is 24, has already represented Israel and plays for Hapoel Jerusalem, but he has yet to establish himself as one of the more recognizable names on the European basketball scene.
Hapoel sees him as one of the players retained from last season’s core, and he has already shown at the start of the new season that he can make an offensive impact, scoring 12 points against Maccabi Ashdod in the Winner Cup.
The EuroCup gives him the kind of platform where he can develop greater consistency and, with that, greater recognition.
Federico Cattapan (Trento)
Cattapan is one of the more intriguing Italian prospects in the competition. Born in 2008, the 18-year-old guard stands 1.96m and has been with Trento since 2023, having previously developed through the academies in the Veneto region.
He has already made his Serie A debut while continuing to develop within Trento’s system.
The interesting part is not whether he will suddenly put up big numbers. It is whether he can start carving out a role in a professional team competing in the EuroCup at the same time. If that happens, Cattapan could be one of the names we know much better by the end of the season.
Swann Penda (Le Mans)
Swann Penda is another player at an important stage of his development. The French forward, born in 2007, got his first taste of professional basketball with Le Mans last season, making eight appearances in the French league.
The numbers do not tell us much yet, and that is part of the story. The EuroCup gives him a different platform to start earning a bigger role and prove that he can compete against more experienced players.
For a player of his age, month-to-month development is more important than one eye-catching stat line.
Thomas Bernat (Cluj-Napoca)
Thomas Bernat is the deepest cut on this list. The young Romanian guard is part of Cluj-Napoca’s new roster, on a team that went through a major overhaul during the summer and brought in 12 new players.
Cluj is an interesting environment precisely because it has several more experienced players around whom younger talents can develop. Bernat is already listed as an NBA Draft prospect eligible for 2031, which says plenty about how early he still is in his career.
He may not be the first player to attract attention. But if he starts earning minutes and shows that he can handle them, then he is exactly the kind of player a list like this is meant to identify early.
Lenny Benczak (Frankfurt Skyliners)
Lenny Benczak is one of the youngest players on the list and one of the biggest long-term bets. The 17-year-old Austrian guard moved to Frankfurt this summer from BC Vienna, with the German club describing him as one of the most promising talents in his country.
He does not yet have the résumé that would make him a familiar name to the wider European basketball audience, and that is precisely what makes his case interesting.
If he can earn even a limited role with the senior team and show that he can handle the demands of professional basketball, his development could take a very different turn.
Chrysostomos Chatzilamprou (Aris)
At 18, Chrysostomos Chatzilamprou is taking the first major step of his professional career. He signed a deal with Aris through 2030 this summer and now has to translate what he showed with Greece’s U18 national team to the senior level.
At the U18 European Championship, he averaged 17.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, numbers that underline his ability to impact the game in more than one area. The real challenge, however, starts now, against opponents with considerably more experience and physical strength.
His playing time is not guaranteed, which is perfectly normal for a player his age. But if he can make the most of the opportunities that come his way and show that he can hold his own at EuroCup level, this season could mark the point when a very interesting Greek prospect begins to become a name known beyond Greece.