Belgium take 17 candidates to training camp for EuroBasket 2015

BRUSSELS (EuroBasket 2015) - The first stage of Belgium's preparations for EuroBasket 2015 got under way on Monday with the participation of 17 players who aspire to make the final squad for September's big event.

Belgium head coach Eddy Casteels announced the 17-man group over the weekend, after holding a series of preliminary mini-camps over the summer that enabled to scratch names off an extended 27-strong list he had released in late May.

Stars Axel Hervelle and Sam Van Rossom, of top Spanish clubs Dominion Bilbao and Valencia Basket, respectively, headline a group which is the natural continuation of the squads that represented Belgium at EuroBasket 2013 and the EuroBasket 2015 2nd Qualification Round last summer.

The 32-year-old Hervelle was the go-to-player for Belgium two years ago in Slovenia, averaging team-highs of 10.5 points and 7.9 rebounds. He he also led the team in both categories during the 2nd Qualification Round.

Van Rossom skipped last summer's qualifying campaign but had emerged as the pacesetter of the Belgian backcourt at EuroBasket 2013 as he averaged 8.5 points and led the national team in both assists (3.1 assists per game) and steals in the tournament.

Veteran playmaker Jonathan Tabu, power forwards Maxime De Zeeuw and Pierre-Antoine Gillet as well as Wen Mukubu are the other stand-out players in recent Belgian campaigns who are included in this group.

Meanwhile 20-year-old point guard Emmanuel Lecomte is the youngest player in the EuroBasket training camp.

Earlier this summer he became the first-ever Belgian player to be included on the All-Star Team at an U20 European Championship as he propelled the his country to a historical-best eighth-place finish in the tournament.

The blazingly fast guard makes up together with Loic Schwartz, Kevin Tumba, Maxime Gaudoux and Telenet Oostende duo Jean Salumu and Khalid Boukichou a group of up-and-coming players who have not yet stepped out in a major tournament with the senior national team.

Compared to Belgium's most recent campaigns, the only players who were unavailable for selection and obviously did not receive a call-up this summer are former captain Guy Muya, who retired from international basketball, Roel Moors, who ended his playing career and turned to coaching, and fellow veteran Christophe Beghin.

Coach Casteels will therefore have a difficult job in selecting Belgium's final EuroBasket squad, although he aims to have trimmed the preliminary roster to 14 players already by the start of August.

Star winger Matthew Lojeski, of Olympiacos Piraeus, is not included on the 17-strong list as he will join the national team training camp at a latter stage, in August, Belgium Basketball has clarified.

Belgium will play in Group D at EuroBasket 2015 together with the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia and group hosts Latvia.

Belgium preliminary squad for EuroBasket 2015: Lionel Bosco, Khalid Boukichou, Maxime De Zeeuw, Maxime Gaudoux, Pierre Antoine Gillet, Axel Hervelle, Ioann Iarochevitch, Emmanuel Lecomte, Niels Marnegrave, Wen Mukubu, Jean-Marc Mwema, Jean Salumu, Loic Schwartz, Quentin Serron, Jonathan Tabu, Kevin Tumba, Sam Van Rossom.

Go to eurobasket2015.org for more coverage of EuroBasket 2015.

FIBA