The United League teams, which have almost completed their rosters, signed 7 players in this busy offseason who have already played in the tournament. We are rewinding each of them.
Jeremiah Hill (Runa)
Previous VTB League experience: Astana (2019-2021), PARMA (2021-2022)
The guard spent exactly half of his professional career in the VTB United League – two seasons in Astana and a season in PARMA. In both clubs Hill managed to distinguish himself: he represented the Kazakh team in the finals of the three-point contest in 2021, and in January 2022 he became the MVP of the month already in the Perm team.
Jeremiah Hill is returning to the VTB United League as the leader of the Cameroon national team, with which he recently won the pre-qualifying African tournament. However, unlike the national team, Hill will most likely have to play as an shooting guard in Runa.
Alex Tyus (Runa)
Previous VTB League experience: UNICS (2019-2020)
The bigman was the primary center for UNICS in the 2019/20 season, and although that season was ultimately not finished due to a pandemic, Tyus had the best numbers of his European career with 10.3 points and 6.1 rebounds.
The big man with Israeli citizenship spent his last season at Asvel, as the team’s backup center. Tayus was among the top-10 in field-goal percentage in the Euroleague (68%) and in the French league (64%).
In Runa, Alex Tayus has every chance to become not only the key player of the team’s frontcourt, but also one of the most prominent players in the entire League.
Kyle Kuric (Zenit)
Previous VTB League experience: Zenit (2017-2018)
Kyle Kuric is one of the best snipers in the VTB United League history, as well as the only player this offseason to return to a team he has previously played for.
The American with a Slovakian passport spent 5 years between Zenit and Zenit in Barcelona. With Barca Kuric won the Spanish championship twice and won the Spanish Cup three times. In addition, he recorded solid personal achievements – in 2021 he was the best in the Euroleague in free-throws (96.1%), and in 2021 and 2022 he made it to the elite 50-40-90 club.
Heurtel – Kuric duo not only has every chance to be the most exciting pair of guards in the VTB League in the upcoming season, but also looks capable of bringing the championship trophy back to St. Petersburg.
Glenn Causey (Nizhny Novgorod)
Previous VTB League experience: VEF (2019)
The American guard played in the VTB United League for VEF back in 2019, where he only managed to play 10 games, scoring 12.4 points per game. Since then, Causey has changed 6 teams from 6 different countries, and then transited through VEF to Nizhny Novgorod.
We can assume that in Zoran Lukic system, the 31-year-old will perform roughly the same functions as Jermaine Love, who left the team. Moreover, Glenn Causey loves to score points and shoot threes – almost 70% of his attempts were from beyond the arc in his European career.
Jordan Morgan (Lokomotiv Kuban)
Previous VTB League experience: UNICS (2020-2021)
Jordan Morgan reached the VTB United League and EuroCup finals with UNICS in the 2020/21 season, and while he was incredibly efficient – best on the team in field-goal percentage and rebounds – his exploits were often overshadowed by Jamar Smith, John Brown and Isaiah Canan.
Now Morgan is on his way to a team where they can bring out his strengths even better. Lokomotiv Kuban is led by Aleksander Sekulic, the same coach Morgan has worked with for several years with the Slovenian national team. But Morgan will still have to fight for a spot in the squad, as Okaro White and Chris Horton will be Morgan competitors in Krasnodar.
Tonye Jekiri (CSKA)
Previous VTB League experience: UNICS (2021-2022)
Looking back at UNICS performance in the 2021/22 season, many agree that the Kazan club failed to reach the VTB United League finals largely due to the absence of Tonye Jekiri. The Nigerian center missed three months due to injury and returned only in the 3rd place series.
Last season, Jekiri competed well with other frontcourt players at Fenerbahce with Dimitris Itoudis. In CSKA he will have a more serious task – to successfully replace Nikola Milutinov, who left the team.
Kyle Vinales (Avtodor)
Previous VTB League experience: Kalev (2019-2020)
Kyle Vinales first appearance in the VTB United League turned out to be quite successful – in the 2019/20 season, he played for Kalev, was among the top-5 best scorers (17.7 points), and also made it to the All-Star Game after receiving a wild-card from the League.
Now Vinales returns to the VTB United League in great shape. Last season, the guard was the leader of Legia, averaging 18.3 points (4th in the League) and 6 assists (10th in the League) per game.
