Both the MLP Academics Heidelberg and the Hamburg Towers have announced their first new signings for the coming season. The Telekom Baskets have also announced a new addition
Only two teams, FC Bayern and Alba Berlin, are still in the competition in the current BBL season and will play out the 2024 German champions. All other teams have already left for the offseason – and so squad planning is also progressing in many places, especially in the German positions. Both Veolia Towers Hamburg and MLP Academics Heidelberg have now announced their first new signings. Telekom Baskets also presented a new player.
In the Hanseatic city, guard Osaro Jürgen Rich is returning to his youth club, which he left in 2022. The 25-year-old spent the past two seasons in Bayreuth, where he was relegated last summer, and in Göttingen. With BG, he ultimately secured the league title and contributed an average of 6.1 points. Rich is now looking forward to returning home, where he has signed until 2026: “I can hardly wait to be back on the court in the Inselpark Arena and to be welcomed by our fans.”
He already knows current coach Benka Barloschky from his time as an assistant at the Towers: “We both have an intensive and successful time in common, during which he mastered the step to becoming a professional player. We have great trust in each other and no longer need to get to know each other. That comes very close to our desire for continuity,” commented Barloschky on his protégé’s return home. However, Nico Brauner, who ended his career after the past season and could replace Rich, will no longer play for the Towers.
Ersek from Tübingen to Heidelberg – Bähre new in Bonn
Meanwhile, two familiar faces will also meet in Heidelberg in the coming season: The Academics recently brought in Coach Danny Jansson from relegated Tübingen. In Erol Ersek, he is bringing a player with him to the Kurpfalz. The Austrian international, who also has a German passport, has played for the Tigers under Jansson since 2021 and was one of the top performers in the Tübingen jersey in the relegation season with 8.7 points per game. The 25-year-old is already full of enthusiasm for the new season: “I’m really looking forward to playing in Heidelberg next season. The arena and the atmosphere were really impressive for me. I also know Danny and his system very well and believe I’ll be able to contribute quickly.”
In addition to almost relegated Heidelberg, the Telekom Baskets were also able to sign a new player after extending the contract of big man Lars Thiemann: Jonathan Bähre comes from Ludwigsburg, with whom he failed to beat Bayern in the first play-off round. The defensively strong center has continuously improved in his three years in Swabia and recently recorded 6.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
The 27-year-old has signed a two-year contract in Bonn: “I’m looking forward to the chance to become part of a very successful club in Bonn, about which I’ve heard nothing but good things from all sides. I noticed often enough last year how talented the Baskets team and the coaching staff are,” said the big man, referring to the six head-to-head meetings in the 2023/24 season between Bonn and Ludwigsburg in the league, cup and Champions League – all of which the Baskets won.
