SOFIA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) – Rising star Aleksandar Vezenkov, who is currently immersed in the Spanish Liga Endesa title race with his club FC Barcelona Lassa, will be later this summer at the forefront of a youthful Bulgarian national team's efforts to return to the Final Round of a FIBA EuroBasket tournament for the first time since 2011.

The forward, who turns 21 in August, headlines Bulgaria head coach Lyubomir Minchev's 16-strong preliminary squad for the Qualifiers which tip-off 31st August.

There was never any doubt that Vezenkov would come to play for the national team, he is committed to help whenever he can," coach Minchev said. "Since his season ends in late June he will have a few days to rest and do some individual training. He might go to the US for a few days, so it is possible that he needs to join preparations a bit later, we have talked about these possibilities."

Vezenkov made his senior national team debut in the summer of 2014, shortly after finishing as the top scorer of the FIBA U20 European Championship and earning a spot in the All-Star Five of that tournament.

The youngster immediately assumed the role of the leader on the Bulgarian senior side, leading them in scoring during the FIBA EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualifying Round with 17.3 points per contest. Bulgaria however won only one of their six games in the group and did not manage to advance to the show-piece event.

Bulgaria will certainly have one of the rosters with the lowest average age in the upcoming Qualifiers as the majority of the players on the squad are below the age of 26 and Asen Velikov is the only one past the age of 28. Shooting guards Chavdar Kostov and Ivan Lilov however, both born in 1988, are there to contribute experience in the backcourt.

We need to show a different, improved face.  Our goal is to qualify, we cannot set out to play with any other thought in our mind - Lyubomir Minchev

Coach Minchev has also included two naturalised American-born players in center Jason Washburn of Sigal Prishtina and point guard Darius Adams who had a breakout season with Laboral Kutxa Baskonia. Bulgaria are allowed to include only one of Adams or Washburn in their line-up, a decision which Minchev expects to make during the course of the Qualifiers.

"We need to show a different, improved face," said the Bulgarian coach. "Our goal is to qualify, we cannot set out to play with any other thought in our mind. I have talked to all candidates and I have seen important desire and ambition. This is, to me, the most important quality that any player who is included on the national team must have."

Bulgaria's training camp will get under way on 15 July and they will play their first two warm-up games against The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on 5 and 6 August. The Bulgarians will take part in a tournament in Romania from 14 through 16 August and will then play host to Austria and Albania in their last two friendlies.

The Balkan team was drawn in Group E of the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers, together with Kosovo, Slovenia and Ukraine.

FIBA