Sergio Scariolonational men’s basketball coach, announced this Tuesday a new list of 16 players called up to compete in the second qualifying window for Eurobasket 2025, and in which there are only three surviving players from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Spain, which will gather in Guadalajara on Monday, November 18, must confirm its presence in next summer’s Eurobasket, a tournament in which Scariolo’s men defend the title, with two key matches against Slovakiain Bratislava on Friday, November 22 (6:00 p.m.) and in Ourense on Monday, the 25th (8:00 p.m.).
Among the list of players, for which the coach could not call Euroleague and NBA players, the presence of three European champions in Berlin 2022 and survivors of the recent Olympic Games held in Paris: Captain Xabi López-Arostegui, Alberto Díaz and Jaime Pradilla.
Another old acquaintance of the national team, Carlos Alocén, returns to the national team list after a serious knee injury, but the Italian coach’s intention with this call is to renew the group.
Thus, Scariolo has called up three players who won the U-19 World Cup in 2023: Sergio de Larrea, who already made his debut with the Absolute team this past summer, and Izan Almansa and Rafa Villar. In addition, it will debut another young man and member of the Golden Boys 2.0 program Mario Saint-Supery; and Josep Puerto. Rubén Domínguez (Surne Bilbao Basket) and Jordi Rodríguez (Grupo Ureta Tizona Burgos), complete the list as guests.
Scariolo’s squad is made up of Izan Almansa (Perth Wildcats), Carlos Alocén (Dreamland Gran Canaria), Jonathan Barreiro (Unicaja), Alberto Díaz (Unicaja), Fran Guerra (La Laguna Tenerife), Sergio de Larrea (Valencia Basket) , Gran Canaria), Yankuba Sima (Unicaja), Rafa Villar (Hiopos Lleida) and Santi Yusta (Casademont Zaragoza).
Tie the standings and rejuvenate the team
«With this call we try to respond to two great demands that we have ahead of us. The first, try to tie the classification to Eurobasket. And the second, proceed with the generational change that we have already started in recent years and that in this call it faces an even more advanced phase,” Scariolo assessed in statements published by the Spanish Basketball Federation.
The coach is clear that “the imperative is to work and prepare for the games against Slovakia to win them”, although he must at the same time ensure that the younger players “continue to gain experience and soak up the values of ‘The Family'”.
«Obviously, we would have loved to have other players who are busy playing in the Euroleague with their teams or who are competing in the United States (NBA and NCAA). In fact, a few days ago I met with Santi Aldama and he reaffirmed his commitment to the national team and his desire to grow on this path that he has already undertaken to acquire more and more importance within it,” he revealed.
Spain is part of the Group C in the qualifying phase to Eurobasket along with Belgium, Latvia and Slovakia. In this second window, the team will face the Slovaks twice, who also arrive, like Scariolo’s team, with a 0-2 record. The first classified, not including the host Latvia, will qualify for the tournament that will be held from August 27 to September 14, 2025.
