Zadar ink two foreign players – Franke and Georgiev are coming to Višnjik

Zadar will continue the 2016/17 season with two new players in their roster. Yannick Franke and Aleksandar Yanev Georgiev are officially new members of the white & blue crew!

Get ready to watch some brand new faces wearing Zadar shirts in the remaining part of the ABA League, as this club has signed contracts with two foreign players!

The first one is Dutch shooting guard Yannick Franke (20 years, 194 cm), who signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Zadar. Franke spent most of his basketball career in his homeland where he played for Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, Challenge Sports Rotterdam and Donar. In 2016 he went to Finland to play for Bisons LoiMaa, while his last club was Greek giant AEK Athens.

The second newcomer in Zadar is Bulgarian forward Aleksandar Yanev Georgiev (26 years, 203 cm) who signed a contract until the end of the season. So far in his career Georgiev has played for Cherno More, Kavala, Basquet Manresa, Lukoil Academik, Gussing Knights, Levski, Club San Martin de Corrientes and finally for Kožuv from where he came to Zadar.

“We have acquired two players who will be very useful for us in the rest of the season. Yanev was our first choice, because we were looking for a strong power forward. Although he is relatively a young player, he has a lot of experience, so I believe he will prove himself to be a true reinforcement for the team. As far as Franke is concerned, he is a very talented player whom we signed on two and a half years, because we think that he can further develop in our club. He is an excellent shooter and he should be an additional strength in our offensive game plan,” said Zadar Sports Director Branko Skroče.

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Potpisali reprezentativac Bugarske i Nizozemske

Košarkaški klub Zadar u nastavak sezone ulazi osnažen za još dvojicu novih igrača. Nakon što je napokon pozitivno riješena registracija Maja Kovačevića, ugovore sa Zadrom potpisali su nizozemski reprezentativac Yannick Franke i reprezentativac Bugarske Aleksandar Yanev Georgiev.

20-godišnji Franke nizozemski je reprezentativac visok 194 centimetra. Stiže iz grčkog AEK-a, a potpisao je ugovor na 2,5 godine. U sezoni 2014/15. bio je najbolji strijelac nizozemske košarkaške lige DBL (najmlađi u povijesti), a iste je sezone osvojio nagrade za najboljeg mladog igrača te igrača koji je najviše napredovao. Ove sezone potpisao je trogodišnji ugovor s AEK-om, ali se nedavno razišao s grčkim klubom nezadovoljan minutažom.

Yanev je 26-godišnji, 203 centimetra visoki krilni centar koji je ponikao u bugarskom prvoligašu Cherno More Varna. Nastupao je i za grčku Kavalu, španjolsku Manresu, bugarske klubove Lukoil i Levski, a ovu sezonu je počeo u makedonskom Kožuvu. Sa Zadrom je dogovorio suradnju do kraja sezone.

“Riječ je o dvojici igrača koji će nam biti iznimno korisni u nastavku sezone. Yanev nam je bio prvi izbor jer smo tražili jednu snažnu četvorku. Iako je relativno mlad igrač, iza sebe ima dosta iskustva i vjerujem da će se pokazati pravim pojačanjem. Što se tiče Frankea, riječ je o vrlo talentiranom mladom igraču kojeg smo potpisali na dvije i pol godine, zato što smatramo da kod nas može još dodatno napredovati. Odličan je šuter i trebao bi dati dodatan impuls napadačkoj igri naše momčadi,” rekao je sportski direktor kluba Branko Skroče.