By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zaccharie Risacher reached the BKT EuroCup finals with Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse and received individual honors after achieving this feat. As officially announced, Risacher has been voted the EuroCup Rising Star for the 2023-24 season.
In a year with exceptional young talent throughout the competition, the head coaches chose Risacher as this season’s Rising Star. The EuroCup Rising Star Trophy recognizes the most outstanding player in the competition who was younger than 22 years of age on July 1 of the summer before the season started.
Risacher, who turns 19 on April 8, is the second-youngest player to win the EuroCup Rising Star award. Dzanan Musa of Cedevita Zagreb was exactly a month younger than Risacher when he was chosen as the 2017-18 Rising Star. Nadir Hifi of Paris Basketball came in second in this season’s voting, and Juan Nunez of Ratiopharm Ulm was third.
Risacher helped Bourg reach the EuroCup Finals for the first time in club history by averaging 11.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and a PIR of 10.0 in less than 24 minutes per night. He led all EuroCup players in the regular season in three-point percentage, hitting 32 of his 57 shots from downtown (56.1%). Risacher scored 20 or more four times throughout the season, getting 22 points in Round 22 against 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys. His combination of size, quickness, and athleticism allowed him to become Bourg’s x-factor, helping his team finish first in Group B with a 14-4 record and eliminate Prometey Slobozhanske and Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul to storm into the finals.
Born in Malaga, Spain, Risacher’s father Stephane was also a professional basketball player who won domestic titles with Unicaja Malaga, Olympiacos Piraeus, and PSG Racing and won an Olympic silver medal with France at Sydney 2000. The younger Risacher grew up with LDLC ASVEL and made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut with this team in the 2021-22 season. After winning the French League and the French Leaders Cup with ASVEL, Risacher made his EuroCup debut with Bourg this season.
Risacher is the first French player to win the EuroCup Rising Star award. Olek Balcerowski and Bojan Dubljevic were chosen as EuroCup Rising Star trophy winners twice. Dubljevic received the award with Valencia in 2013 and 2014. Balcerowski got it in 2022 and 2023.
Photo: euroleaguebasketball.net