The legendary Future Stars International Tournaments have previously featured players such as Jan Vesely (Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul), Dario Saric (Phoenix Suns), Nicolo Meli (Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul), Tomas Satoransky (Washington Wizards) and Rudy Gobert (Utah Jazz).
In the past the tournament was organised for European U18 National teams as the last stage of preparation for the European Championships. The 2019 edition featured top European Club teams boasting a rich history in developing talent preparing for their upcoming season.
Read below a summary of the previous editions of the Future Stars International Tournament.
Future Stars 2023
The Future Stars 2023 event powered by Always Ballin will take place at Brunel University in London between the 1st to 3rd of September and may be one of the strongest editions ever.
In keeping with tradition, the U18 England National team will take part in the Future Stars International tournament and will face the challenge of true European Junior powerhouses Zalgiris Kaunas, Stella Azurra Academy and Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg who are regular participants of Euroleague’s ANGT. The tournament will also include London United which in addition to their Academy players will boast a selection of leading young players from the Greater London Area.
The tournament will be accompanied by a National Coaching Clinic which will take place on Saturday 2nd September 2023 and will allow UK-based coaches to become familiar with the most up to date trends in developing young talent.
Future Stars which is organised in partnership with Basketball England are proud to announce Always Ballin as the official sponsor of the event.
For more details on the event please click here.
GIntreda Future Stars International Tournament 2019
The Junior International Tournament which had taken a hiatus since 2013 returned for 2019 at Brunel University, London.
The tournament featured truly great European clubs competing at an elite level of International Junior basketball. The following U18 teams competed for the Future Stars 2019 Championship title; Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv (Final 8 Euroleague ANGT 2019), Rytas Vilnius (Euroleague ANGT 2018 Winner), Porsche Ludwigsburg, Oxygen Orange 1 Basket and the U18 England National Team.
An impressive Rytas Perla Vilnius team remained unbeaten in the tournament and claimed the title after facing Porsche Ludvigsburg in the final.
In the third place game a constantly improving Oxygen Orange 1 Basket seriously challenged the U18 England National team. The Italian outfit which came to Future Stars weakened by absence of Nemanja Gajic and Destiny Agbamu due to last minute visa issues were a true Cinderella team of the tournament. After an unconvincing start they booked their place in the consolation final by beating Macccabi Tel Aviv 104-102 after a tense double overtime thriller.
Final Standings for Gintreda Future Stars 2019 International Tournament
1. Rytas Vilnius
2. Porsche Ludvigsburg
3. England U18 National Team
4. Oxygen Orange 1 Basket
5. Maccabi Tel Aviv
Gintreda Future Stars MVP
Augustas Marciulionis – Rytas Perla Vilnius
Gintreda Future Stars All Stars Team
Augustus Marciulonis – Rytas Perla Vinius
Ariel Hukporti – Porsche Ludvigsburg
Cameron Hildreth – England U18 National Team
Andrea Kolagiros – Rytas Perla Vilnius
Mateo Bogliardi – Oxygen Orange 1 Basket
For the full scores from the tournament please click here.
Future Stars International Tournament 2013
The 2013 Future Stars International Tournament took place from 28th to he 30th August 2013 at Surrey Sports Park. The
The tournament featured the U18 National teams from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,, Sweden, and England, in addition to London United Harefield Academy.
London United Harefield Academy finished in 3rd place with a tough game against an athletic Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia claimed the Future Stars 2013 title with a 73-63 win against England in the final.
Future Stars International Tournament 2012
Ukraine celebrated their first victory at the Future Stars International tournament after beating the Netherlands 66-57 in the final.
In the third place game Denmark overcome England 73-59. England’s efforts were dictated by a slow start when England found themselves trailing 22-6 at the end of the first quarter. England started the second half with a far more aggressive approach which started paying dividends reducing Denmark’s lead to single digits. However that was as far as Steve Bucknell’s team could go in terms of challenging the Danish team and the 14 points margin probably correctly reflects the difference in class between these 2 outfits. England’s best performances came undoubtedly on Friday during the qualification rounds. Firstly they dispatched Sweden 62-55. Then came their performance of the tournament when they defeated in a very impressive Ukraine 84-76.
In the fifth/sixth place two game series Sweden completely overpowered a depleted London-United-Harefield Academy team. The Londoners after losing 3 starters in their first game against Holland were reduced to mere observers of the proceedings for the rest of the tournament. For the full scores of the tournament please click here.
Future Stars International Tournament 2011
The Future Stars 2011 International Junior Basketball Tournament took place in London at Brunel University from the 8th to 10th of July 2011. The tournament included National U18 teams from Sweden, Slovenia, Netherlands and England in addition to a US Select team and London United Harefield Academy which included representation of the top talent from the Greater London area.
The Tournament was won by the impressive national U18 team from Slovenia, led by the MVP of the tournament Luka Rupnik.
Netherlands and Slovenia were the strongest teams of the international cohort. The Netherlands thumped, all except London United en route to their third and fourth place play off, but they arguably played the prettiest basketball of the tournament. Special mentions must be given to guard Kasper Averink for his displays of pedigree all weekend, as well to Olaf Schaftenaar, whose accurate three point shooting makes him a real talent for the future.
The Dutch beat England in the third and fourth place play-off to finish the tournament third overall but firmly in the hearts of the local crowd for their demonstration of how the game should be played. The England squad despite being plagued by injuries and finishing the tournament with only an 8 man squad managed their best ever position of fourth at the tournament.
It was the London United-Harefield Academy however, who were Cinderella team at this years event. The local team won two of their three qualifying games, beating Sweden and Netherlands narrowly to make the final against the commanding team from Slovenia, who had beaten them convincingly in their pool game at the tournament’s start. United, had proved to be the early entertainers with their athletic displays against the Swedes and the close margins by which they beat their international compatriots. It was not to be for the West London team however, as their fairytale ride came off the rails to be beaten closely by the imperious team from Slovenia. The Tournament belonged to Slovenia, who played hard basketball all weekend to clinch this year’s title. Led by the outstanding player of the tournament Luka Rupnik, the Eastern Europeans swept all in their path to the side as they wowed the crowd with their tough defence at one end of the court, and their attacking flair at the other.
To read the full results, match reports and team rosters from the Future Stars International Tournament please click here.
To view video of the Future Stars International Tournament 2011 click here.
Future Stars International Tournament 2010 London
The 3rd Future Stars International Junior Basketball Tournament took place in London at Kingston College from 9th 11th July 2010.
The outstanding line-up featured several must-see international U18 teams, all of whom appeared less than two weeks later at the 2010 U18 Mens European Championships. The European Division A U18 national teams from France, Croatia, Sweden and Poland were joined by the U18 English national team and by the host Richmond Select team. The Richmond Select team was put together by London United Basketball Club in partnership with The Luol Deng Foundation and was made up of experienced youngsters from the Richmond College Basketball Academy, together with other gifted and talented young basketball players from all over London.
The Tournament was won by the impressive national U18 team from Croatia who narrowly beat Poland in the Final. The Tournament MVP was the very exciting future star, 1994 born Croatian player Dario Saric who, after representing Croatia at both the U18 and U16 European Championships in August 2010, was named MVP at the U16 Championships. Currently at the age of 18, Saric is representing KK Zagreb in Euroleague.
Future Stars International Tournament 2010 Krakow
The 1st Future Stars 2010 International Junior Basketball Tournament in Poland, organised in conjunction with the Polish Basketball Federation, took place in Krakow from 16th 18th July, immediately after the Future Stars England Event.
Sponsored by 4Move sports drink and the Malopolska Region, and delivered in partnership with Marcin Gortats MG13 Foundation, the Event in Poland was named 4MOVE Future Stars Małopolski Festiwal Koszykówki z Marcinem Gortatem.
Basketball fans in Krakow were entertained by the young future stars in the National U18 teams of Spain, France, Slovenia, Sweden and Poland and from Richmond upon Thames College in London. Such an impressive line up of teams made the Tournament one of the strongest junior events ever organised in Poland.
The Polish Tournament winners were the very impressive Spanish U18 national team who, in heart-stopping fashion, beat France in the Final with a buzzer-beating three point shot.
Future Stars International Tournament 2009
In 2009, the Future Stars Tournament featured the National U18 teams from Spain. Italy, Israel, Poland and England together with the hosts, Richmond Select team. The 2009 Future Stars Tournament was won by Spain, who beat Poland by 15 points in the Final. Poland had previously overcome a very strong Italian team in their semi final, winning by only 2 points in a close fought and most exciting match.
The Tournament MVP was Miguel Servera (born 1992) from Spain, hewas a member of the under-16 Spanish national team, averaging 8.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals in the 2008 European Championship and was also chosen to play for the International team at the 2008 Jordan Brand Classic in April 2008.
Not to be outdone however, the England U18 team featured 18 year old future star, Ryan Richards (born 1991), who had been tipped as an NBA prospect since he was 14 years old. Richards was the player the British spectators most wanted to see in action and he did not disappoint, scoring 15 against Poland and 20 against Spain. In 2010 Richards was drafted by San Antonio Spurs and currently plays for Team GB Senior Squad.
Future Stars International Tournament 2008
The U18 Czech Republic national team emerged as winner of the Future Stars 2008 basketball tournament after a thrilling final against Poland. For the entire first half both teams traded baskets and no team had a bigger lead than 4 points. Towards the end of the third quarter, the Czech Republic took a 10 points lead which proved to be decisive. The Poles made a frantic effort to cut the deficit but their every effort was matched by crucial baskets from Jan Vesely, Tomas Satoransky and superb point guard Jakub Kudlacek who never lost his control of proceedings on the court. The final results were Czech Republic 97 and Poland 90 points.
In the 3 / 4 place game, Unicaja Malaga was suffocated defensively by the Slovenian National team which was within striking distance from delivering the surprise of the tournament. With 1 minute and 30 seconds left on the clock, Slovenia had a 4 points lead and looked very uncertain against Malaga’s aggressive defence. However, steady leadership from Uros Zadnik won the day for Slovenia with a score of 70-63 but certainly Malaga can be proud of their brave efforts.
Zalgiris and Richmond upon Thames College Select were paired together in 2 leg competitions to avoid the last place in the tournament. In the first game there was nothing to separate both teams and the game went to over-time. The Richmond team managed to hold their nerve and finished on the right side of a 103-95 result. The second game was played the following day and proved to be an equally close but far more defensively orientated encounter. Zalgiris held a 67-64 victory, which was still too small a margin to prevent a jubilant Richmond team from claiming 5th place.
Jan Vesely from the Czech Republic was the unanimous winner of Most Valuable Player award. Vesely has since had a successful playing career in European Basketball, in 2010 he led BC Partizan Belgrade to the Euroleague Final Four in Paris. In 2011 he took his career to the NBA when he was drafted as sixth pick by Washington Wizards.
To view video from the Future Stars International Tournament 2008 click here.
