The regular season is coming to an end, which means that the winners of the season awards will be announced very soon.The VTB United League and Championat will jointly select the Best Young Player of the 2023/24 season.
The Best Young Player award has been presented since the 2012/13 season. The first winner of the award was Sergey Karasev, who then played for Triumph. After that, the best young players were Triumph guard Dmitry Kulagin and Neptunas’ Edgaras Ulanovas (both in the 2013/14 season), VEF forward Janis Timma (2014/15), Avtodor center Artem Klimenko (2015/16), Parma guard Ivan Ukhov (2016/17), and Kalev guard Isaiah Briscoe (2017/18). In the 2018/19 and 2020/21 seasons, the best young player was Nikita Mikhailovskii from Avtodor. In the last 2 seasons, the award was taken by Lokomotiv Kuban center Andrey Martiuk.
Here are the players who will compete for this award. Selection criteria – a basketball player must not be older than 23 years old (born in 2001 and younger).
Daniil Kasko, 20 years old (MINSK)
32 games (23 as a starter), 22.27 minutes, 7.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 6.2 eff points per game
The Belarusian player, who turned 20 only a month ago, continues to progress in pro basketball. He started his career in RUOR Minsk, after which he joined MINSK system. Kasko was recognized as the best young player in the Cup and Belarus championship in the 2022/23 season. The guard was also involved in Belarus U16 and U20 national teams. In 2021 he won the World Cup 3×3 bronze medal with the U18 team, and now he is a player of Belarus national team.
Already last season Kasko became a starter in MINSK and played almost 20 minutes. In the current season the situation is better – Daniil gets 4 minutes more, and his key stats have almost doubled. His best game in the regular season was against CSKA, where Kasko scored 22 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Aleksandr Chadov, 22 years old (Pari NN)
33 games (20 as a starter), 17.32 minutes, 6.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.9 eff points per game
Aleksandr got into Pari Nizhny Novgorod system 8 years ago. In the 2018/19 season, Chadov joined CSKA youth team to participate in the Euroleague U18, the team finished at 5th place. In 2019, the player signed a long-term contract with NN and debuted for the main team. In 2023, Chadov won the Russian Cup and also debuted for the national team.
For a long time, Pari NN rotation cannot be imagined without Aleksandr, he is a crucial part of Zoran Lukic frontcourt. Despite his rather young age, it seems that Chadov has always been in Nizhny. His best game in the current season was against Runa, where he scored 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Anton Kardanakhishvili, 22 years old (CSKA)
27 games (0 as a starter), 8.45 minutes, 2.4 points, 1.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 3.2 eff points per game
The young player went through Gloria and MBA systems before joining CSKA in 2018. In 2019, he participated in the Euroleague U18 tournament. In the season-2020/21 he played in the Superleague for CSKA-2, and became the VTB Youth League champion. In 2021 he was included in the expanded roster of the Russian national team to prepare for the Olympics Qualifiers. After friendly games against Lithuania and the Dominican Republic, he was included in the squad for the tournament in Split. In the preliminary round of Qualification he played 2 games against Mexico and Germany.
In the 2021/22 season Anton played 17 games in Pari Nizhny Novgorod. The following season he was in Samara. In both cases it was a loan – Kardanakhishvili continued to be CSKA player. In the current season the Army team decided not to send the young player to another team and left him. His best game was against MBA, where he scored 10 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
Kirill Elatontsev, 21 years old (Lokomotiv Kuban)
33 games (2 as a starter), 16.17 minutes, 6.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 9.2 eff points per game
Kirill has been in the Krasnodar team’s system since 2016. In the youth team in 2021 he was recognized the MVP of the regular season, and in 2023 became the Final Four MVP and the VTB Youth League champion. In addition, in 2021, Elatontsev participated in the EuroChallenger as a member of the Russian U20 national team, and in January 2023, took part in the Russian national team training camp for the first time.
Elatontsev has been involved in Loko roster since the 2020/21 season, but fully established in the last season, reaching the Finals with the team. In the current season, the Krasnodar team head coach Aleksander Sekulic rewarded Kirill for his progress by increasing his playing minutes. As a result – the best stretch of his career in the United League. Kirill had his best game in the 2023/24 season versus Pari NN – 17 points and 4 rebounds. Also, don’t forget that in the last 2 seasons the best young player award was won by Andrey Martiuk. Who knows, maybe Elatontsev will follow in his footsteps.
Danila Pokhodiaev, 23 years old (Runa)
37 games (14 as a starter), 20.12 minutes, 6.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 6.0 eff points per game
Barnaul basketball native came into the CSKA system in 2017. At that time, he also played for the Russian U16 team at the European tournaments. As a member of CSKA Junior, he became the VTB Youth League champion in 2018 and 2021. Then he also made his debut for the Russian national team. After that, he played in the SuperLeague – for Temp-SUMZ, and then went to PARMA. In 2023, he joined Runa. Pokhodiaev is the most important link of the Vikings, first of all in three-point shots. He has fit in perfectly with the United League team, and head coach Ertugrul Erdogan trusts him. This season Danila had his best game with Zenit, where he scored 22 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Samson Ruzhentsev, 22 years old (CSKA)
32 games (9 as a starter), 14.48 minutes, 6.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 7.7 eff points per game
At the age of 15 he moved to the USA, where he played for Hamilton Heights High School, after which he spent one season with the Florida Gators. For the sake of game practice he returned to Europe, signed a contract with Mega. Since the 2022/23 season he has been playing for CSKA. In his first season, he made it to the United League All-Star Game and won the Slam Dunk Contest.
In 2019, Ruzhentsev was called up to the Russian U18 youth national team to participate in the European tournaments, which resulted in 6th place. In June 2023, he made his debut for the main Russian national team in a friendly game against Belarus. After the leaders left in the off-season, the young player strengthened in CSKA. Emil Rajkovic gave him more freedom and increased his playing time. In the 2023/24 season, Ruzhentsev had his best game against MBA, where he had a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Mikhail Belenitskii, 21 years old (Pari NN/UNICS)
31 games (20 as a starter), 18.37 minutes, 4.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.2 eff points per game
Belenitskii started in Gloria. In the 2017/18 season, Mikhail started playing for MBA DYUBL. In the 2018/19 DYUBL championship, he became a bronze medalist. Belenitskii was included in MBA roster, but never played. In 2019, Mikhail made his pro basketball debut with Pari NN.
However, the real starting point in the career was last season: he established in Nizhny Novgorod and won the Russian Cup. At the same time he made his debut for the national team. After a breakthrough season, several VTB League teams were interested in him, but he decided to stay in Nizhny Novgorod. This season he continued to progress, which attractED the attention of more high-profile teams. As a result, he went to UNICS until the end of the current season. His best game of the season so far was against MBA, where he scored 10 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
