President Demirel highlights the rise of the new stars at FIBA EuroBasket 2017

In the traditional FIBA EuroBasket post-tournament press conference, FIBA Europe President Turgay Demirel championed the emergence of the new stars at FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

As with every EuroBasket, the European basketball family waved goodbye to a number of legends, but there were no shortage of emerging talents that shone through and are ready to replace them. President Demirel used the occasion on Sunday afternoon in Sinan Erdem Arena to focus on the young players to have made their mark on the tournament, such as Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis, Gabe Olaseni and Lauri Markkanen.

"It gives me great joy to see the new stars coming through on the European basketball stage. We have on nearly every team some new names that proved they have star quality.

"I think that European basketball is the best worldwide at producing young talents. As you know, all our championships, from grassroots up, give us the stars of the future."

Of course, there were also thanks passed onto the Finnish, Israeli, Romanian and Turkish Basketball Federations and local organizing committees for the work they did, working together seamlessly.

Also talking in the press conference was CEO of the Turkish Basketball Federation, Omer Onan and FIBA Executive Director Europe, Kamil Novak.

Mr. Novak said it was particularly exciting to see emerging basketball nations such as Latvia coming through, whilst the fact that teams like Lithuania and France, both of whom played at the Olympics last year, missing out on the Quarter-Finals, reiterates the great depth of European basketball.

The attendance numbers at FIBA EuroBasket 2017 were the second-best since 2011, when the tournament switched to a 24-team format, with numbers at games involving the four host nations especially promising – confirming fans want to see their teams play meaningful games at home.

This will be the case for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers, with the first window set to be played in November of this year.

When questioned about FIBA EuroBasket 2021, Mr. Novak explained that the bidding process and format of the new tournament will be reviewed and decided upon by the FIBA Europe Board, with no current information available. He added that as soon as any information becomes available it will be immediately communicated.