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Dutch Professional Players Abroad in Europe

Dutch Professional Players Abroad in Europe

Last time, we discussed the Dutch players who are playing in the top three levels in Spain. As quite a lot of players have found their way to those leagues, we saved some other Dutch players for now.

This time around, we’ll highlight several other Dutch players playing professional basketball in all European countries besides Spain.

Keye van der Vuurst de Vries – Filou Oostende (Belgium)

The 17-year-old guard is developing fast with Oostende. He joined the club in 2017, and has now made the jump from the second team, to the first senior team. Now, Van der Vuurst is already playing around 20 minutes per game. Of course, his development is not really a surprise, as he also already made his debut for the senior national team of the Netherlands.

Besides that, Van der Vuurst averaged 9.6 assists at the U18 European Championship this summer, and in the Basketball Champions League, Van der Vuurst is averaging 5 assists after only two games.

Maarten Bouwknecht – Worcester Wolves (England)

Bouwknecht signed a contract in England this summer, his first professional contract outside of the Netherlands. Even though he’s still only 24, the guard got his first professional contract back in 2013 with Donar Groningen, after playing in their youth teams for several years. As a player of Den Bosch, Bouwknecht was named the MVP under 23 in the DBL, was the MIP in 2017, and made his debut for the Dutch National team.

In his first months in England, Bouwknecht has been averaging 9 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal per game.

Yannick Franke – Hamburg Towers (Germany)

Franke made the step to the Hamburg Towers, after playing in Lithuania for a season. This will be Hamburg’s first season in the BBL, since they were founded back in 2013.

Hamburg’s head coach Mike Taylor, is also the Polish national team coach, and he noticed Franke during the World Cup qualifiers. Poland had to go up against the Netherlands, with Dutch international Yannick Franke, and though Poland won, they had to specifically prepare themselves for the play of Franke. Then, Taylor decided he wanted to have Franke on his team in Hamburg.

Julius van Sauers – Worcester Wolves (England)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5rSGturjkQ

Van Sauers signed a contract with the Wolvs just a couple of weeks after Bouwknecht did the same. He was the last player that Worcester added to their team for the season.

The last few years, Van Sauers played college basketball for the Long Island University in Brooklyn. So far, he’s doing a good job, scoring 6 points per game, as well as 4 rebounds, and one assist.

Nathan Kuta – Limburg United (Belgium)

Last year, Kuta played his games for Limburg United B, but this year the coaching staff made clear he would move up to the first time. In the coaches words, Kuta had nothing left to learn in the Top 1 Division.  So this season, Kuta will have to earn his minutes in the Euromillions Basketball League.

Roeland Schaftenaar – Ionikos Nikaias (Greece)

Schaftenaar just started his second season with his Greek club, Ionikos Nikaias. It’ll be an interesting year for the club and Schaftenaar, as they won the 2nd league championship last year, and have been promoted to the highest league.

Bryan Alberts – Djurgårdens IF (Sweden)

After spending his college years with both Gonzaga (2014-2017) and Long Beach (2017-2019), it was time for Alberts to sign his first professional contract. In the end of August, he found a team in Djurgårdens IF, playing in the Swedish league.

Charlon Kloof – OGM Orman (Turkey)

During the summer, Kloof decided it was time for a new step in his career. After two seasons in Spain with UCAM Murcia, he signed with the newest team in the Turkish BSL, OGM Ormanspor. Ormanspor had just managed to promote to the highest level in Turkey for the first time in club history. Right now, Ormanspor is ranked 12th.

Nicolas de Jong – Pau-Cocq-Orthez (France)

Nicolas de Jong resumed playing for the Dutch National team this summer, after a two-year absence. It was only an exhibition game, but it was a sign that he’ll most likely be part of the team that will represent the Netherlands in the European Championship qualifiers next year.

De Jong also joined a new team over the summer, Élan Béarnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez. That means he’ll both play in the French League as well as the Basketball Champions League.

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