By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Nearly eight years after his last appearance, 33-year-old Pierre Oriola bounced back in the BKT EuroCup, joining BAXI Manresa for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. His addition was officially confirmed on Friday.
The experienced big reunited with his hometown club for a second time. Following his first departure to pursue other career options, he returned for the 2023-24 season. Taking his talents to Mexico in his most recent challenge, he helped Fuerza Regia capture the Liga Caliente.mx LNBP championship for the sixth time in team history, averaging 5.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest over 27 appearances.
Oriola is a veteran of 39 games played in the second tier of Euroleague Basketball, but his previous run dates back to the 2016-17 season and reaching the Finals with Valencia. Spending the next five years at FC Barcelona, he was featured in 142 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague contests, and also became a two-time ACB champion, combined with the Valencia triumph in 2017. Adding the Basketball Champions League to his list, he logged six appearances with AEK in 2023. Meanwhile, representing Spain in FIBA tournaments went from a bronze medal in the FIBA U20 European Championship 2020 to bronze in the EuroBasket 2017 and gold in the FIBA World Cup 2019.
His next assignment found the team coached by Diego Ocampo at 3-4 in Group A of the EuroCup Regular Season, looking to extend the continental campaign beyond the initial 18-game schedule. Also, a 2-4 domestic record is only one game away from the Liga Endesa’s relegation zone.