A new edition of the Eurocamp will be held in Treviso (Italy) from June 5th to 7th. In this case Adidas gives its name to the event instead Reebok, that made a great job in the past years. The list of drafted players who have participated in the camp is huge, with NBA people like Danilo Gallinari, Serge Ibaka, Rudy Fernandez, Marco Belinelli, Nicolas Batum, Rodrigue Beaubois,... Eurohopes contacted Pete Philo, the Eurocamp director. He has no doubts: "we are extremely excited about the group we have thus far.....".
-A new edition of the Eurocamp will be held in a couple of weeks in Treviso. In this case with a new sponsor: Adidas. What can you explain of this year's event?
This year's event will be much like the others ("if it isn't broke, don't fix it", this is a good way to sum it up). Adidas has done a very remarkable job with the transition and supporting all efforts to put on a world class event.
-Last year Patrick Beverly participated. Have you seen more interest of american players to be invited also?
There is a lot of interest from american players however in order for an american player to participate under the Eurocamp umbrella they must play their pre-draft years in europe. We have Jeremy Tyler coming that played this season in Israel.
-How many NBA GM's do you expect to attend?
We have all 30 NBA teams attending. To be exact on how many GM's is a tough prediction. Things change daily in the NBA. I expect a nice turnout of NBA personnel.
-Due to the domestic P.O. competitions are there many players who cannot come to the camp?
Yes, playoffs will have a small impact on some of the first list invited players. We may have a little luck on our side at the end but these things are out of our control. Regardless of the playoff outcome, the camp is deeper and deeper each year.
-Is the camp growing every year or it's difficult make a step forward in every edition?
The camp is getting bigger in size and how it is recognized around the world. We are thankful to people such as yourself and Eurohopes that do such a great job covering the event. As said earlier, the talent gets deeper each year.
-What can you explain of the two U-20 NT invited in this edition?
We will have the croatian U20 and the french U20. Both teams are of a very high quality. They are very well coached and are full of talent. It is always nice to have such quality additions such as U20 national teams to the event. It gives scouts another 20 very high level prospects to see in three days.
-Tell us a few words of Rob Meurs.
Rob Meurs was one of the first international scouts. A fine man, a good friend and a person who was as passionate about basketball as anyone on the planet. He worked extremely hard and was very generous. I enjoyed every conversation with Rob. He left us too soon and will be sincerely missed.
Check these two videos with footage of last edition (link and link).
