(by Rocco Fattori Giuliano) Basketball: a little over a month from the tip-off of the 2023/2024 season which officially begins on 09 September 2023, it’s time to see what signings and changes have been brought to the Tezenis Verona roster.
After relegation to A2, following a dramatic and short experience in the major league, almost all the players decided to find other clubs and the only name that remains in Verona is that of Liam Udom.
In the off-season, the management, therefore, had to rebuild the team from scratch: the purchase of Ethan Esposito, an explosive guard born in 1999 from Naples with bags of potential, was very important; to support him there are also two young forwards Nemanja Gajic, born in 2001 in Serbia, and Vittorio Bartoli who raise the quintet and will have to replace the role of Taylor Smith rebounding under the basket.
The latest signings are Kamari Murphy and Gabe DeVoe. The former is a New Yorker center with first-division NCAA college experience and G-League (NBA development league) before moving to various European teams between Germany, Poland, and Estonia; Gabe, on the other hand, is a North Carolina wing with experience in the Summer League with the Charlotte Hornets and then in Europe with various teams where he has always proved to be a good scorer given his averages, especially those recorded in A2 with Piacenza where he averaged 33 minutes per game, DeVoe ended the season with 19.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists
Also interesting is the return to the yellow and blue jersey of Lorenzo Penna, a point guard born in 1998 from Bentivoglio (BO) who was on the roster in the 2021/2022 season. Last season, he played in Forlì, playing the promotion final against Cremona; played 41 games with an average of 22 minutes and 7.3 points per game.
“I am very happy to wear the Tezenis Verona shirt again. I will meet up with coach Ramagli again with whom I’ve had an excellent relationship and have always worked very well. Returning to an environment that you know and in which you had a good time makes things easier. This made all the difference. I think I have grown in the last year, especially in terms of leadership. I’m ready to help my teammates to make things easier for them. The first objective must be to form the group, that will be the priority” , said Lorenzo Panna upon his arrival in Verona.
Scaligera Basket, here are the challenges of the next SuperCup A2
September kicks off the LNP Old Wild West 2023 Super Cup for the A2 championship, the 24 teams will be divided into 8 groups and Tezenis finds itself playing against group C made up of Agribertocchi Pall. Orzinuovi and Elachem Nuova Pallacanestro Vigevano 1955. The qualifying phase, from 09 to 15 September, is structured over three one-way dates, with two matches for each team, in a triangular tournament with a single venue.
The 8 group winners advance to the quarter-final which will take place on 19 September, in a single match, on the field of the 4 best first classified, combined with the other 4 first, with criteria of proximity. The 4 winners access the Final Four, court to be established, on 23 and 24 September.
