By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona announced the first addition of a new player, adding Finnish power forward Olivier Nkamhoua.
Per the press release: FC Barcelona and player Olivier Nkamhoua, 26 years old and 2.03 meters tall, have reached a contractual agreement until June 30, 2028. The Finnish power forward arrives from Varese in Italy, after international experience with his national team, the German league, and the NCAA. He is a player who can provide energy in defense, anticipation in the rebound, and also offensive forcefulness, with the ability to catch the ball in flight and smash.
“I’m very happy to be here. I’m coming to a historic club, with a great tradition, from what I’ve seen, the fans are incredible, and my goal is to help the team achieve as many victories and titles as possible”, he said in statements to the Club’s media after passing the medical examination.
“It will be my first year at this level. I will try to bring energy, effort, good decision-making in shots, and intensity in defense. There are many things that I believe I can contribute, but we have to go step by step. My goal is to grow every day and be better than the previous year. Being able to play in a competition like the Euroleague is exciting. I am very happy to face this challenge.”
The son of a Finnish mother and a Cameroonian father (and former basketball player), he was born in Finland in 2000 and trained as a player in Helsinki until the age of 17, when he packed his bags to go to the United States. He continued his training with five seasons in the NCAA (four years with the Tennessee Volunteers and one season with the Michigan Wolverines), playing a total of 138 games (8.1 points and 4.4 rebounds).
He returns to the old continent in the summer of 2024 to play in the German league with the Niners Chemnitz (10 points and 4.7 rebounds in 36 games). And he also adds continental experience in the BCL (14.8 points and 4.8 rebounds).
After this good return to Europe, he signed for the Italian Varese, where he completed a year with an average of 16.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and a 16.7 rating in 28 games (30 minutes of play).
Nkamhoua will be the second Finnish player in Barça’s basketball history, after Petteri Koponen (2016/18). “I played a couple of games with him (Koponen) in the national team. I know him well. We talked a little, but not much. I will definitely have more contact with him now, and I hope he comes to watch one of my games one day”. The new Barça player was an international in the lower categories and made his debut with the national team in 2023. In these three years, he has become one of the references of the team, which was one of the revelation teams of the last Eurobasket (4th place). In this tournament, he registered 10.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and a rating of 12.1.
Recently, Nkamhoua was part of the Finnish team that played in the first round of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers. In the victory against Hungary (85-77), the new Barça player played 18 minutes, with a total of 6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a rating of 5. While in the defeat against France (98-69), he scored 6 points, captured 3 rebounds, and distributed 2 assists. Therefore, Nkamhoua and his teammates will continue to fight in the second round of the qualifiers to try to obtain one of the three places in Group L that will give access to the 2027 World Cup.
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