According to FIBA Europe the race is on for the most prestigious individual honour in European basketball, announcing the nominees for its annual Player of the Year awards. The 2011 Awards include all four established categories: Men, Young Men, Women and Young Women. The winners in each category will be decided by the public and an expert panel vote. Players born in 1991 or after are eligible for the Young Men and Young Women awards. Voting in all four categories will cease on 31 January 2012.

 

The winners will be announced through fibaeurope.com in early February and will be later presented with a special trophy. The FIBA Europe Player of the Year awards were established in 2005, with stars like Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Maria Stepanova among the winners in the last six years. The reigning players of the year are Nika Baric of Slovenia for the Young Women, Czech point guard Hana Horakova for the Women, NBA draftee Jan Vesely for the Young Men and Serbia point guard Milos Teodosic. Out of the fans who vote and register with their name and email address, three can win EuroBasket jerseys, signed by the medal-winning players of Spain, France and Russia. 10 more voters will be drawn to receive FIBA Europe merchandise packages.

Basketball fans can read through the candidates' profiles and vote for the Young Men award here.

These players are the nominees: Alex Abrines ('93, Spain) -at the pic-, Aleksandar Cvetkovic ('93, Serbia), Alesandro Gentile ('92, Italy), Enes Kanter ('92, Turkey), Przemek Karnowski ('93, Poland), Dmitry Kulagin ('92, Russia), Nikola Mirotic ('91, Spain), Jonas Valanciunas ('92, Lithuania), Dario Saric ('94, Croatia) and Tornike Shengelia ('91, Georgia).  

 

Photo: FIBA Europe / Wojtek Figurski