Each season, more and more great international players are making the jump to college basketball. In the wake of Illinois’ daring European frontcourt bullying their way to the program’s first Final Four in 20 years, every team is rapidly investing to bring in talent from all corners of the Earth. Over the next few weeks, Hoops HQ is here to reveal the most impactful and promising international recruits, starting today with the ACC.
Last season, the ACC had arguably the strongest international crop of any conference, thanks to players like Dame Sarr, Neo Avdalas, Thijs De Ridder and Henri Veesaar. This year should bring another talented group of imports.
1. Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, 7-foot center, Duke (America/Cameroon)
Possibly the most tantalizing player under 18 in Europe today, Boumtje Boumtje has left jaws hanging and coaches mystified along every step of his youth journey. The five-star St. Petersburg, Fla. native spent his high school-aged years in Spain training in FC Barcelona’s development academy. Joaquim is the son of Cameroonian NBA player and Georgetown alumnus Ruben Boumtje Boumtje. He posted 15.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 32.6 percent from beyond the arc during the 2025-26 season with FC Barcelona’s U18 team. The twist: He only turned 17 this week.
Boumtje Boumtje’s reclassification from the Class of 2027 means he is required to play two more seasons before entering the NBA Draft, allowing Duke a rare opportunity to develop a top-tier five-star prospect for multiple seasons. Boumtje Boumtje recently took home MVP of the EuroLeague Next Generation Tournament while leading FC Barcelona to its first tournament title in 10 years, racking up 19 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting an unfathomable 67.9 percent from the field and 9 of 19 from three-point range. Boumtje Boumtje is a “unicorn” with great touch, speed, size and physicality far beyond his age.
2. Sayon Keita, 7-foot center, North Carolina (Mali)
Another FC Barcelona product, Keita is projected to be in the lottery mix this time next year. The five-star prospect possesses immense physical gifts. A 7-foot frame with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, along with impressive speed, verticality and court vision gives Keita the incredibly high ceiling NBA coaches are clamoring for.
At 18, Keita already has senior-level EuroLeague experience, an accomplishment very few can flex. In six games with FC Barcelona’s senior squad, he averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. Keita has routinely played up throughout his career alongside professionals, keeping pace admirably. Don’t be surprised if Keita is the starting center on Day 1 for Mike Malone’s new-look Tar Heels.
3. Obinna Ekezie Jr., 7-foot center, Louisville (Nigeria)
Rounding out the trio of five-star ACC 7-footers, Obinna Ekezie Jr. takes after his NBA father, who was the anchoring center for a pair of Maryland Sweet Sixteen squads in the 1990s. Ekezie Jr. is ranked the No. 1 domestic center in the Class of 2026 and ESPN’s eighth-ranked recruit nationally even after reclassifying up from the Class of 2027.
Ekezie Jr. recently took part in the Basketball Without Borders Global All-Stars camp, an event reserved for the top 40 international high school-aged prospects in the world. He made the camp’s “All-Star 5” team and took home defensive MVP. A certified 7-footer with a 7-foot-3 wingspan and forward-like speed, Ekezie Jr. fielded offers from more than 25 power-conference schools, including blue bloods Kentucky, UNC and Kansas, before landing with Louisville. Some scouts see Ekezie Jr. going one-and-done; it will be interesting to see where he lands in coach Pat Kelsey’s rotation with post transfers Flory Bidunga and Gabe Dynes also in the mix.
4. Alexandros Samodurov, 6-foot-11 power forward, North Carolina (Greece)
There’s a Greek reunion in Chapel Hill. Thanks to the help of Virginia Tech transfer Neo Avdalas and new Tar Heels head coach Mike Malone, Samodurov was successfully lured to the college ranks by UNC. Samodurov is a highly developed, nearly NBA-ready stretch big with outstanding accomplishments in his youth career. Though a bit on the older side, the 21-year-old Samodurov brings 22 games of EuroLeague experience, top international camp invites and senior team dependability.
The Panathinaikos prospect declared for the NBA Draft this offseason, only withdrawing at the deadline amid rising college interest and wavering draft stock. At the 2025 U20 Eurobasket, alongside Avdalas, he posted 17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.4 blocks per game en route to an All-Star 5 selection. Soon after, he was selected as the only player born after 2000 for Greece’s 2025 EuroBasket team, playing 15.5 minutes per contest alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo on their historic bronze medal run. Through academy play, Samodurov has decades-long chemistry with Avdalas and will demand minutes out of the gate.
5. Mark Morano Mahmutovič, 6-foot-7 wing, Syracuse (Slovenia)
Ranked as a four-star by 247 Sports, Mahmutovič is the highest-rated recruit in head coach Gerry McNamara’s debut class. The 19-year-old Slovenian wing has spent the last several years lighting up European scoreboards with staggering efficiency. In the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket, against the best European players in his age group, Morano dropped 20.1 points per game, the second most in the tournament, on extremely efficient shooting splits of 60 percent from the field and 48.9 percent from three-point range.
His deadly three-point efficiency isn’t just a statistical anomaly; across 27 games in Slovenia’s top domestic league, Morano shot 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from three while attempting 4.7 three-pointers. This led to a season average of 13.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals for Helios Domzale in his 18-year-old campaign. Estonian Stefan Vaaks thrived in the NCAA with a similar archetype and even fewer pre-NCAA credentials, earning Big East All-Freshman honors and a seven-figure payday from Illinois to transfer. Morano is ready to torch defenses from Day 1 and is destined for big-stage basketball, whether that be the NBA or as Luka’s EuroBasket sidekick for years to come.
The Big Ten’s Top 10 Incoming International Players
Illinois and Michigan’s international-heavy Final Four teams set the stage for an overseas arms race in the Big Ten. We rank the best inbound imports.
6. Julius Price, 6-foot-2 point guard, Stanford (Sweden)
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, to an American father and a Swedish mother, Price and his younger brother Malcolm have been leagues ahead of their contemporaries along the youth track. So in the summer before his freshman year of high school, his family moved to California to find better competition to hone his skills. The new playing field did little to stop his domination. At 17, Julius Price posted 21.6 points and 5.1 assists per night in the 2024 U18 EuroBasket, finishing second in the tournament for scoring. At St. Joseph’s High School in California, Price accumulated 2,444 career points and 786 assists while shooting a career 53 percent from the field and 42 percent from three. All while facilitating five-star 2025 prospect Tounde Yessoufou’s record-breaking career points mark.
The eye test shows a smart, quick and skilled point guard with a developed shooting stroke and exceptional shot discipline. At Stanford, Price figures to compete for the primary scoring role on Day 1, a role that shot 2026 First-Team All-ACC selection Ebuka Okorie into the NBA Draft’s first round after entering college with a remarkably similar recruiting ranking (No. 119 to Price’s No. 110).
7. Dominykas Daubaris, 6-foot-10 power forward, Cal (Lithuania)
Described by Cal head coach Mark Madsen as “one of the most promising young prospects out of Europe this season,” Daubaris certainly had the credentials to back up that assertion. A participant in the exclusive 2025 Basketball Without Borders Global camp, Daubaris stands 6-foot-10, 230 pounds with a sturdy, muscular build. He has no problem fending off professional centers for rebounds, snatching them up with his Tacko Fall-sized 10.5-inch hands (0.75 inches larger than even Kawhi “The Claw” Leonard’s hands).
At 18 years old, Daubaris already has seven games of senior league experience for Lithuania’s only EuroLeague championship team BC Žalgiris, posting 10.2 minutes per game and recording 2.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest. Daubaris’s offensive profile is accented by his three-point range. A catch-and-shoot threat with an affinity for the right-side corner, he opens up the floor on offense and rotates well to find open layups and dunks at the rim. His defense is his standout quality, averaging 1.6 blocks and 1.0 steals per game for Žalgiris II. Cal’s roster is almost entirely revamped, returning only one player averaging multiple points per game. Daubaris will be competing for minutes with fellow Lithuanian forward Nojus Indrušaitis in the frontcourt.
8. Boyuan Zhang, 6-foot-8 small forward, Louisville (China)
Ranked inside the top 50 prospects in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports, the Chinese forward has garnered significant collegiate attention over the past several seasons. After visits to Oregon, Illinois, Cal and Minnesota, Zhang settled on the star-studded Cardinals for college. Participating for China in last summer’s FIBA U19 World Cup, Zhang was productive with 14.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, even though the Chinese squad finished 13th of 16 nations.
At Veritas Prep in California, Zhang was effective in EYBL play with almost 20 points per game across the 2025-26 season. Defensively, Zhang has the length and horizontal agility to close off cutting lanes and contest shots, making him a valuable rotational piece. Zhang has struggled with shooting efficiency across his prep career, with a propensity to pull up from midrange reminiscent of an old-school playstyle. With Louisville’s stacked 2026-27 roster, it isn’t likely Zhang will see many minutes his freshman season, but head coach Pat Kelsey is optimistic the Chinese forward will contribute in years to come.
9. Moustapha Diop, 6-foot-10 center, Georgia Tech (Senegal)
A carry-over recruit from the Senegalese-obsessed Damon Stoudamire, new head coach Scott Cross was able to convince the center to recommit April 17, after being granted a release to decommit on March 13. A product of the ever-increasing Overtime Elite circuit in Atlanta, Diop was an interesting recruiting case. Dazzling with his athleticism and physical gifts, Diop was ranked as highly as No. 14 in the Class of 2026 when he committed in the fall of 2024. By the start of his senior year, he had fallen to No. 86 in 247 Sports’ composite rankings, and by the time of his recommitment, he was down to No. 121.
The crux of his tumultuous fall was his underwhelming rebounding and rim protection at the high school level. Despite possessing the size, speed and athleticism to become an elite shot blocker, Diop seemed unable to put it into action with anticipation and positioning. In the Overtime Elite circuit his senior year, Diop averaged just 6.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. However, he did improve his year-over-year field goal accuracy by 14.8 percent and free throw accuracy by 16 percent, flashing improvements in his shooting stroke. Scott Cross’ teams have traditionally been on the smaller side, relying on beefy forwards for inside play. Diop will be Cross’s first player 6-foot-10 or taller in four seasons. It will be interesting to see how he is utilized in the first-year head coach’s scheme.
10. Adramane Siby, 7-foot center, Syracuse (Mali)
Officially measured at 6-foot-11.75 without shoes with a gargantuan 7-foot-5.75 wingspan back in 2024, the Malian center has a professional’s body with fluid mobility and a nearly spotless injury history. Siby has been a part of the KK MegaBasket system since 2022, the same Serbian club that produced NBA star Nikola Jokić. Siby grabbed attention in 2024 when he dominated the EuroLeague Adidas Next Gen tournament with 11.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and a whopping 2.7 blocks per game, earning All-Tournament honors. His performances earned him a spot at the 2024 Basketball Without Borders Global camp alongside seven future NBA players and NCAA stars David Mirkovic and Christian Anderson Jr.
Siby worked his way onto KK MegaBasket’s senior squad at 18 years old. He’s already played 22 games in the ABA, the Balkans’ top professional league. There, in limited minutes, he’s recorded 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 62.5 percent from the field. DraftExpress founder Jonathan Givony went on record to state, “Fans are gonna love him. He’s so full of energy and really a selfless guy. He’s an impressive young man.” Siby is an immediate plug-and-play center for Syracuse with an NBA ceiling. The freshman will compete with Appalachian State transfer Luke Wilson and Siena carryover Tasman Goodrick for the starting center role, but should expect immediate usage for the Orange.
Honorable Mentions:
Aziz Olajuwon, 6-foot-7 small forward, Stanford (Canada/Jordan)
Maxime Meyer, 7-foot-1 center, Duke (Canada)
Favour Ibe, 7-foot-1 center, Virginia (Nigeria)
Nicolas Mitrovic, 7-foot power forward/center, Cal (Serbia)
Gabriel Sularski, 6-foot-5 point guard, Cal (United States/Poland)
Elisee Assui, 6-foot-5 shooting guard/small forward, Florida State (Italy)
Robert Jurković, 6-foot-9 power forward, NC State (Slovenia)
Iker Martinez, 7-foot center, Syracuse (Mexico)
Dionycius Bakare, 6-foot-5 shooting guard/small forward, Cal (Canada)
Gan-Erdene Solongo, 7-foot center, Notre Dame (Mongolia/Ireland)
Meet your guide
