Valencia Basket Opens Its Preseason Against UCAM Murcia in Yecla

Valencia Basket men’s team will play its first preseason game against UCAM Murcia in the Región de Murcia Costa Cálida Tournament, which will take place tomorrow, Sunday, September 7, at the José Ortega Chumilla Pavilion in Yecla, starting at 1:00 p.m. The game will not be streamed, and entry to the venue will be free until full capacity is reached.

A game marked by absences

This friendly game will be the first chance to see this season’s new arrivals in the orange jersey who started preseason with the team: Kameron Taylor, Omari Moore, Neal Sako, and Isaac Nogués.

In addition, the five Spanish internationals (Josep Puerto, Jaime Pradilla, Xabi López-Arostegui, Sergio De Larrea, and Yankuba Sima) have just returned after being eliminated from EuroBasket and have not yet trained with the team. Darius Thompson remains active in the continental tournament, facing Italy against Slovenia in the Round of 16 at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Hungarian forward Vincent Valerio-Bodon, who has been training with the first team for the past ten days, will extend the roster for this game along with the young players doing preseason with the senior squad: Jorge Carot, Álex Blanco, Nikola Dzepina, and Tomas Talcis.

First preseason clash

The orange team kicks off its preseason with the first of four preparation games ahead of participating in the Supercopa Endesa. After this opener, they will face Casademont Zaragoza on Wednesday, September 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the fifth edition of the Pepe Lanzuela Memorial in Teruel. To conclude their preparation, they will once again take part in the EncestaRías tournament, entering its tenth edition. Valencia will open the competition against Baskonia in a game scheduled for Friday, September 19, at 6:45 p.m. The following day, they will face the team that achieves the same result in the other semifinal between Río Breogán and Real Madrid. The third-place game is set for 6:00 p.m., with the final scheduled for 8:30 p.m.

The opponent: UCAM Murcia

Sunday will also mark UCAM Murcia’s first preseason game. The university team has undergone a major roster overhaul but has retained some of its key players from recent seasons such as Dylan Ennis, Howard Sant-Roos, Jonah Radebaugh, Kaiser Gates, and Dani García. Although they have lost some important players, new arrivals include David DeJulius and Michael Forrest as point guards, EuroLeague-experienced players like forward Sander Raieste and center Devontae Cacok, as well as others familiar with the Liga Endesa such as Emanuel Cate (returning for a second stint in Murcia), Toni Nakic, and Rubén López de la Torre.