Sleeper Report - Darion Atkins

Euroleague's next undersized big man or D-league forevah?

Frank 'The Tank' Hassell signed with Hapoel Holon

A solid transfer for their front line.

Olimpia Milano announced Juan Fernandez

An early snatch for Olimpia.

Triple strike from KK Zagreb

Euroleague rookies invest in young talents.

Benetton Treviso announced Vlad Moldoveanu

A good catch for Benetton.

Roanne to land Rick Jackson and John Holland

Dynamic duo for Roanne

Le Havre renewed Joseph Jones

Le Havre announced the signing of the contract extension with American Joseph Jones  (206-F/C-86, college: Texas A&M).

Page renewed for 3 more seasons with Roanne

Dylan Page shows his devotion to Roanne.

K.C. Rivers to sign with Benetton?

K.C. Rivers is rumored to sign with Benetton Treviso.

Cajasol and Aris are after Dowdell

According to diariodesevilla.es, Cajasol Sevilla and Aris Thessaloniki are very interested in signing combo guard Zabian Dowdell(1.91-PG/SG) that played last season for Casale Monferrato in LegaDue in Italy. Dowdell is the alternative target for Cajasol Sevilla in the case that Earl Calloway(1.91-PG) does not sign with them.

Dowdell played the season before for Nancy in France leading his team all the way to the title of the ProA and that was his first pro season after graduating from Virginia Tech in 2007. Before the NBA Draft, Dowdell played with the Tidewater Sealants in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, which is oldest amateur basketball tournament and the only postseason camp conducted for the top NCAA seniors only.

Dowdell then went undrafted in the 2007 NBA Draft. He was widely considered the best player to go unselected in draft . He is currently playing with Phoenix Suns team in Las Vegas trying to secure an NBA contract. Last season in Italy he averaged 19.5 points 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 37 games in total in LegaDue for Casale.

Roanne announced Dylan Page

Roanne announced the signing of Dylan Page(2.04-SF/PF) via their official website. Page played for Pau Orthez last season averaging great numbers and now he will be helping Roanne in their effort to qualify in the groups stage of the Eurocup.

He graduated from Wisconsin in 2004 and in his last season averaged the impressive figures of 20.9 points 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 assist per game in 31 games. From then on he tried his luck in the famous Portsmouth Invitational tournament and a few summer camps in the NBA but eventually signed his first pro contract in Greece playing for MENT. He then moved on to anothe greek team, Panellinios, and next season he played for Mallorca in LEB Silver. Last season he played for Granada in the ACB and averaged 13.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game shooting at 45% behind the arc in 34 games. In France he averaged 17.7 points 7.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 19 games in the ProA.

Peristeri interested in Michael Bramos

According to superbasket.gr, Peristeri are interested in guard/forward Michael Bramos(1.98-SG/SF). Bramos is eligible to obtain a greek passport and that makes him valuable to a greek team as he will not occupy the spot of a foreign player. Bramos was offered to Olympiakos and Aris in the past and Peristeri now are also interested in him.

Bramos is a prolific scorer and a great defender and he was the top scorer of the Miami Redhawks the past season averaging 17.9 points 4.1 rebounds 1.7 assists and 1.1 blocks in 30 games. According to the article Bramos has already applied for a greek passport and once he obtains it there might be other teams interested as well. He also took part in the Portsmouth Invitiation Tournament this summer.

Maccabi signed Elton Brown

Maccabi Tel Aviv signed Elton Brown(2.06-PF/C) and they announced it via their official website. He graduated from Virginia in 2005 averaging 12.8 points and 8.1 rebounds in 29 games. He then participated in a few summer camps including the Portsmouth Invitational and then signed his first pro contract in Greece with Makedonikos but left as the team went bankrupt. He moved on to the NBDL and then played for Menorca.

He then proceed taking part in numerous summer camps and trying to earn his way into the NBA but always ending up in the NBDL. Last season he played for Hapoel Holon and in this NBA pre-season appeared in two preseason games with the Bulls and averaged 2.5 ppg and 2.0 rpg in 8.0 mpg. He participated in the 2008 Vegas Summer League with the Denver Nuggets, averaging a double-double, posting 13.4 ppg and 10.0 rpg in five appearances.

Caserta released Jamar Butler

Caserta released the MVP of the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and teammate of Kostas Koufos in Ohio that they signed earlier this summer. Jamar Butler(1.85-PG) and coach Frates didn't get along and after the player was sidelined for the last 2 games. He averaged 7.3 points 1 rebounds and 2 assists in 3 games with Caserta and it seems that he is taking the heat for Caserta's bad results.

He also averaged 15 points 5.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game in 37 games in the NCAA last season with Ohio State.

Pau Orthez announced Dylan Page

Pau Orthez announced the signing of Dylan Page(2.04-PF) via their official website. Dylan Page has played in quite a few european teams so he is considered an already tested solution.

He graduated from Wisconsin in 2004 and in his last season averaged the impressive figures of 20.9 points 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 assist per game in 31 games.

From then on he tried his luck in the famous Portsmouth Invitational tournament and a few summer camps in the NBA but eventually signed his first pro contract in Greece playing for MENT. He then moved on to anothe greek team, Panellinios, and next season he played for Mallorca in LEB Silver. Last season he played for Granada in the ACB and averaged 13.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game shooting at 45% behind the arc in 34 games.

Forbes and Dickens are leaving Napoli

The 2 players were signed earlier this summer by Napoli but due to the decision of the italian federation to exclude Napoli from the league they will be leaving the team.

Kaniel Dickens will probably moving to Varese according to eurobasket.com. Dickens was one of the best scorers in the NBDL for the Colorado 14ers. He averaged 19.2 points 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 38 games in the D-League. Earlier this year he was in negotiations with the Cherkassy Monkeys but the deal didn't go through.

Gary Forbes has offers from Turkey so he will be possibly continusing his career there.He began his career in NCAA with Virginia and later on he moved to Massachusetts with a gap year in between where he had even better seasons (2006-2008). In May 2008 he participated in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (Pre-NBA Draft) where in three games he averaged 15.7 points 7.0 rebounds 8.7 assists. He is also a member of the Panama National Team.In his last year in the NCAA he averaged 19.4 points 7.3 rebounds and 3 assists per game.

Rieti announced Jiri Hubalek

Solsonica Rieti announced another player for this season, czech NT player Jiri Hubalek (2.11-PF/C). Jiri has just finished playing in the qualiffying games of the Eurobasket.

Jiri Hubalek played for the last 3 seasons for Iowa State in the NCAA where he averaged 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds. In April he took part in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament where he sought to attract the eyes of the NBA and Europe scouts and he also took part in the pre-draft camp in Orlando but did not manage to get drafted. The 25-year old power forward will now be joining Rieti in the italian LegaA1 league.

In the Eurobasket qualifiers he averaged 7.5 points and 3 rebounds in 6 games and 17.8 minutes per game.

Hyeres-Toulon is close to Drew Lavender

According to eurobasket.com Hyeres-Toulon is close to Drew Lavender(1.70-PG) who comes from Xavier where he played the last 2 seasons after transferring from Oklahoma. Lavender also tried his luck in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament some try-outs for NBA teams but it seems that he is undersized for the PG position in the NBA. The player has not been announced by Toulon yet but it seems that the deal is almost certain.

He averaged 10.8 points 2.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 36 games for Xavier last season.

Napoli hit the jackpot with Forbes.

Napoli announced Gary Forbes(2.01-SG/SF) who was born in Panama on 25 February 1985. Gary Forbes began his career in NCAA with Virginia where he had 2 good seasons (2003-2005). Later on he moved to Massachusetts with a gap year in between where he had even better seasons(2006-2008).

In May 2008 he participated in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (Pre-NBA Draft) where in three games he averaged 15.7 points 7.0 rebounds 8.7 assists. He is also a member of the Panama National Team.

In his last year in the NCAA he averaged 19.4 points 7.3 rebounds and 3 assists per game.

Varese announced Arizona Reid

Cimberio Varese managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat this time and announced the signing of Arizona Reid(1.96-SF) one the NCAA's top scorers, ranking 8th in the score boards averaging 23.9 points per game. Reid took part in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament where he had some good games but didn't manage to secure a contract in the NBA but is destined to have a long career in Europe.

Reid averaged 23.9 points 11 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in 31 games for the High Point Panthers last season.