With the appointment of Frédéric Fauthoux, the retirement of a few old grunts (Nicolas Batum and Nando De Colo) or the gradual handover with the 1992 generation, a new era begins in the French team. EuroBasket 2025 risks being that of renewal for the Blues and most of the young players have understood this well. This week, two NBAers with 0 selections applied.
“I will do everything to be in the final selection for the European Championship”first declared Rayan Rupert (1.99 m, 20 years old) on the microphone of Ouest France. Regularly seen in the aisles of the Stade Pierre-Mauroy or Bercy for the Bleu(e)s matches, the Portland back has only limited experience with the French team: that of a concluded EuroBasket U18 in 2022 in the distress of a surprise defeat in the quarter-final against Slovenia (57-58).
He can show a little more experience with the Bleuets, and a real track record: a world U17 bronze medal in 2022 then global silver in U19 the following year. Enough to be stung for life for the French team. So Alexandre Sarr (2.16 m, 19 years old) made it a real career goal, even though he was trained far from French borders after he was 14. The new interior of the Washington Wizards was notably able to speak on Wednesday with GM Boris Diaw, present in San Antonio for his match against the Spurs. « I would really like to play in the French team, regardless of the competition”he confirmed to BasketSession. « This is something very important to me, because we are trying to build something great for the years to come. I have not yet spoken with Frédéric Fauthoux but I spoke about the French team with Boris Diaw. »
