Event Summary - FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2026 (Italy)
Division A
What is this Event Summary about ?
This event summary is about my impressions from my own evaluation point thru video-scouting of the FIBA U18 EuroBasket Division A . This Event Summary focuses on players who showed flashes, potential upside and interesting tools throughout the tournament, but may not be on the level of the top prospects.
The evaluations shown on this website represent initial scouting impressions. Detailed scouting reports are prepared upon request.
Austria
On the left Benjamin Kuranovic (the rights belong to the FIBA)
One of the players who i think is gonna be interesting to keep an eye on in the next few years is Benjamin Kuranovic. He is a 15 year old (December 2010) Austrian Small-Forward, who projected in this tournament as Connector. He played in Season 2025-26 for the U16 team of FCN Holter Baskets Wels in the Superliga U16, which is the highest possible league in this Austrian youth basketball age group. There he showed high upside potential through his statline.
He projects an excellent frame with a build, which allows to build up more muscle strength with potential for further development, while showing an interesting overall height of 6'7" in combination with his build for his age. Through his active rebounding he shows flashes of a two-way mindset.
One of his limitations with an eye on the U18 elite level and it's speed is his overall tempo of decision and reaction capability and overall quickness.
France
While analyzing this year's U18 France roster there was one prospect, who fits perfectly in the category Beyond the Box-score.
Let's talk about Afeny Cognet. Afeny is an 18 year old French (January 2008) listed Point-Guard who is 6'0", while he projects as a primary ballhandling floor-general with two-way motor. He projects some lacks in his playstyle, which reminds me of an early-stage TJ Shorts. He shows elite quickness and acceleration, which is also translating on his ball handling, where he shows an excellent control and speed changes through that. What struck me as positive is his overall body language on and off- the court, which is essential for me, while evaluating prospects.
One of his limitations comes through his overall build, which limits his defensive ceiling and overall switchability, even if his effort is there.
Afeny Cognet jersey nr. 2 white (the rights belong to the FIBA)
Denmark
Laurits Bomholt red jersey (the rights belong to the FIBA)
This year's Danish U18 team produced 2 interesting prospects, while one of them does not fit into this category, which represents interesting prospects beyond the box-score.
The player i'm now talking about is Laurits Bomholt. Laurits is a 18 year old (July 2008) Danish prospect, who works through his playstyle as a two-way floor-running screen & roll big . Through his overall strong build he projects automatically advantages for example in box-out situations.
One of his limitations is in the fact that he is limited in his hip mobility, for example while he is running the floor in two-way transition situations.
Germany
When we talk about players beyond the Box-score with potential upside, we need to talk about Kenan Youdom.
Kenan is a 16 year old (October 2009) German Small-Forward who is listed 6'6", while he projects as a switchable connector with two-way motor. He projects a excellent frame, for potential further strength build up. His length within his build projects long limbs and a plus wingspan, which allows him to be versatile in defense. His build shows first signs of definition. He is a player who's impact comes from his defense and overall motor, through his elite lateral quickness and footwork for his size. This allows him to stay in front of his matchup, even if it 's a smaller guard.
His offensive ceiling is currently limited. He is a player who works more as a connector and through off-ball situations, rather than being a pure producer. He needs to work on his offensive versatility.
Kenan Youdom (the rights belong to the FIBA)
The FIBA EuroBasket U18 is a national youth basketball tournament, which is essential for the European youth basketball section, which allows to see the best European prospects competeting against each other. This years Division A was held in Trentino, Italy from 25. july - 02. August, 2026. This allows a direct comparison from the best European youth prospects, which potentially projects players who didn't get until now this much attention through their country, league or thru an overall unrecognized statline or limited availability of statline. This summary is not about the top prospects of this tournament. This Event Summary focuses on players who showed flashes, potential upside and interesting tools throughout the tournament, but may not be on the level of the top prospects. These are players who caught my attention and who i believe could become interesting to monitor over the next few years, with potential to develop into prospects for professional basketball structures.
While starting this summary we are gonna talk about a team, who had one of the youngest players of this years
Divison A in their line-up.