More NCAA wood in the LEB Gold

We started this week with the great article of @luislehuesca in which he analyzed one by one all the rookies NCAA that will play in the LEB Plata. In the case of those who will do it in the LEB Oro, some of us had already presented them in our classics scoutingWhat romeo crouch, Khadim Si, Ezekiel Alley, Robinson Ihedenwhile others have featured in later articles, such as Chandler Jacobs, John Harrar, Shaquille Walters. All this information is now complemented with the latest rookies NCAA that are missing to know more in depth:

Noah Bigirumwami
USA-Rwanda / 1997 / 208 cm
Alimerka Oviedo Basketball

We are facing a course with many bets from Alimerka OCB, which has brought, due to the modest circumstances of the project, many players with no experience in LEB and who now add their second rookie NCAA with the arrival of Noah Bigirumwami, who fills a gap as important as being a substitute for Arteaga, in the gap left by Kabasele.

International for Rwanda, but with little presence (7 mi, 2.3 pt, 2.3 re), the lightweight ‘five’ with American training began his university career in a JUCO as San Bernardino Valley on 17/18 (2.2 pt, 2.1 re), from where he got an NCAA-DI scholarship with Chicago State. There he remained four seasons without being able to have a role beyond the secondary one. After not playing due to COVID circumstances in 2020/21, last year he averaged 13 minutes, 1.5 points and 2.5 rebounds on the worst team in the WAC.

It is clear that the ‘five’ market, not only at the Spanish level, but internationally, is tough and bets have to be made, although sometimes they are high risk for a player who raises many doubts in me for a competitive level as it is that of the LEB Oro, and more so in a position as vital as the ‘five’ substitute. His few minutes of play in college do not allow exhaustive analysis at a tactical level or understanding of the game. Very light for contacts against heavy fives, he is also not an explosive player when it comes to movement. With long arms, he can cover the rebound well in his radius of action. Offensively he is a player who, despite his few minutes of play, adds one loss per game and a tendency to make unnecessary fouls, despite having a secondary role in his team’s attack. His contribution in attack, with a top scorer of 5 points in a game, comes from opening up well to popwhere he has no problem shooting from the outside despite his unorthodox mechanics, or looking for options with his back to the rim, where the lack of strength conditions him to be effective.

Obviously a strange signing, which perhaps surprises us all and is more than a help in training, with the door open to playing with a false ‘five’ like Domènech in preseason.

Willy Isiani
Georgia / 1997 / 203cm
Caceres World Heritage Site

One of the new Cáceres signings is the Georgian player with a past in Spain, who arrived in Gran Canaria in the 14/15 season from the MIA Academy after having stood out in the U18 European Championship that summer as a first-year junior. After playing with the yellow subsidiary in EBA (16/17: 7.3 pt, 3.8 re), he went to the US, at a Prepand in 18/19 he was recruited by Detroit-Mercy, where he surprised in his year of Freshmen with his good hand from the triple (7.7 pt). He kept his role the following years to be a starter last year (24 mi, 4.9 pt, 3.2 re, 1.4 ace).

We are talking about a ‘four’ who is around two meters tall, broad-shouldered and stocky, without being excessively explosive or fast, but with a very good quality such as his three-point shot. He is a player that we will not see complicating his life, but he knows how to bounce the ball intelligently and take advantage of the spaces to, without the ball, score under the rim, but whose greatest quality is playing the pick and pop, where he makes some tough blocks and opens up fast for the 3, or is waiting on the 6.75 line to score and receive, keeping an eye on his fake shots. Capable of rebounding, in defense he is not afraid of contact and holds up well with his body, although he suffers against fast players or movements that require extensive lateral movements.

With Bercy as the starting 4 with that physical profile and knowledge of the league, Isiani arrives, whose role should be to open the zone with his threat from the triple. With a profile that has already been seen in Cáceres with, for example, Paco del Águila, Isiani’s work will place him in the competition.