Tournament
The Future Stars International Tournament is designed to showcase top level U18 talent from across Europe and beyond. It is strategically placed directly before the U18 European Championships making us the perfect form of preparation before this tournament. Future Stars features top international teams from division A together with the Under 18 team representing the home nation.
The tournament has in the past brought together the junior National teams from Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Israel and England. Such talented players as Jan Vesely, Dario Saric, Tomas Satoransky, and Ryan Richards have all showcased their talents at Future Stars before going on to become internationally renowned senior players.
In order to increase the visibility of the International Tournament in 2010 a specially constructed outdoor basketball court with roof and seating was built in one of the most iconic locations in Krakow, Poland. This generated considerable interest from spectators, media and sponsors and elevated the entire event into that of a tourist attraction.
2012
The 2012 Future Stars International Tournament will take place from 29th June to 1st July at Brunel University, Uxbridge, London. The tournament will feature the U18 National teams from the Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, England in addition to London United Harefield Academy.
Please see below for the full tournament schedule;
| Group A | Netherlands, Denmark, London United Harefield Academy |
| Group B | Ukraine, England, Sweden |
| Friday 29 June | |
| 10:00 | Netherlands 65 - 72 Denmark |
| 12:00 | Ukraine 72 - 51 Sweden |
| 14:00 | London United Harefield Academy 48 - 68 Netherlands |
| 16:00 | England 62 - 55 Sweden |
| 18:00 | Denmark 90 - 46 London United Harefield Academy |
| 20:00 | England 84 - 76 Ukraine |
| Saturday 30 June | |
| 15:00 | 5th - 6th Place London United Harefield Academy 34 - 70 Sweden |
| 17:00 | Semi Final 1 Denmark 54 - 65 Ukraine |
| 19:00 | Semi Final 2 England 46-53 Netherlands |
| Sunday 01 July | |
| 12:00 | 5th - 6th Place Game (2nd leg) London United Harefield Academy 65 v Sweden 90 |
| 14:00 | 3rd - 4th Place Game (Denmark 73 v England 59) |
| 16:00 | Final (Ukraine 66 v 57 Netherlands) |
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.
2010
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.
To view video of the Future Stars International Tournament London 2010 click here.
Future Stars Internationa 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.
To view video of the Future Stars International Tournament Krakow 2010 click here.
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, he was 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.
To view video from the Future Stars International Tournament 2009 click here.
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.