MILAN (Italy) - The Basketball Without Borders Europe camp returned for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic and tipped off on Wednesday in Milan with 62 boys and girls from across the continent ready to learn invaluable lessons on and off the court.

The last European BWB camp took place in 2019 in Lativa and the Milan event is the 19th edition of the famed camp in Europe, dating back to 2001 - also in Italy in Treviso. Rome hosted the European camp in 2014.

The campers gathered for the first-day activities at the Assago Sports Village, located just a stone’s throw from the Mediolanum Forum - home of Italian powerhouse AX Armani Exchange Milan. The young talents were addressed by FIBA’s Sports Development Director Zoran Radovic and Troy Justice, the NBA's Associate Vice President and recommended to take advantage of the experiences they were going to have in the coming four days.

Italian national team star Danilo Gallinari also spoke to the campers and said they should look around at the other players next to them because some of them would make it to the NBA. Gallinari also told the campers he remembered when he was sitting in their exact shoes as he was a participant at the BWB Europe back in 2003.

The camp, which runs from June 1-4, includes skills instruction, life-lesson talks as well as 5-on-5 games made up of teams chosen by the camp coaches. It concludes with an award ceremony including a girls and boys Most Valuable Player.

Among the campers are a number of players who are expected to shine at the FIBA U17 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 and FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 later this summer.

Kemba Walker, Team USA point guard at the 2019 FIBA World Cup is in Milano for the camp

The women’s tournament host Hungary is represented by Petra Toman while Annika Soltau and Paula Huber-Saffer are in Milan from first-time U17 World Cup participants Germany. Dominique Malonga from France is also among the campers as is Ariadna Termins from Spain.

FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 hosts Spain have five players in the camp - Izan Almansa, David Barbera, Sergio De Larrea, Alvaro Folgueiras and Aday Mara. Poland are represented by Szymon Nowicki; Slovenia have Jan Vide in the event; Lithuania’s sole participant is Petras Pedegimas; France have the trio of Pacome Dadiet, Mohamed Diawara and Tidjane Salaun; and Serbia have Lazar Gacic, Boboljub Markovic and Ognjen Stankovic.

FIBA