Like father: The son of a Maccabi Tel Aviv legend is starring in the European Championship
Danielius Jasikevicius, son of former point guard and Fenerbahce coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, is making his debut for the Lithuanian cadet national team and has already entered the top five players of the first day. Also: The son of a Greek legend who lost to Israel.
The European Cadet Championship, which kicked off on Friday, features a significant number of second-generation European basketball stars alongside other top talents. For one of them, the pieces are falling into place, and the future looks bright.
16-year-old Danielius Jasikevicius is the starting point guard for the Lithuanian national team. His last name is well-known: he is the son of Sarunas Jasikevicius, known by his nickname Saras—one of the best point guards in Europe during the first decade of the millennium and a legend of Maccabi Tel Aviv, with whom he won the EuroLeague twice.
Danielius, listed as Daniel on the FIBA website, was selected as one of the top five players of the first day after scoring 17 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and dishing out 7 assists in a 95:79 victory over the reigning European champion, Serbia.
Saras Jr. is currently 1.80m tall and plays for the Zalgiris youth team. He was part of the Lithuanian squad at the EuroLeague Next Generation tournament. The FIBA website noted that he "conducted the Lithuanian orchestra" and helped the team overcome an early deficit to win. Today, the Lithuanians will face Poland, and a victory will help them secure first place in their preliminary group.
It is not only Saras's second generation at the tournament. The son of Aris Thessaloniki and senior Greek national team coach, Vassilis Spanoulis, is also on the Greek cadet roster. Athanasios Spanoulis started against Israel and finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals, though his performance was not enough to secure a win.
