Chikoko excels in Germany

Sport
GERMAN-BASED Zimbabwe international basketball player Vitalis Chikoko enhanced his growing status as one of the rising young stars in the German Basketball Bundesliga with a dominant display for his club TBB Trier at the weekend.

GERMAN-BASED Zimbabwe international basketball player Vitalis Chikoko enhanced his growing status as one of the rising young stars in the German Basketball Bundesliga with a dominant display for his club TBB Trier at the weekend.

DANIEL NHAKANISO SPORTS REPORTER

The 22-year-old power forward produced his best perfomance in a TBB Trier shirt as he top scored with 23 points in addition to six rebounds to steer TBB Trier 79-71 victory over Tübingen.

According to reports from Germany, Chikoko, in his third season in the German Basketball Bundesliga enthralled 3 236 TBB Trier fans with a match winning display.

“Yes, it’s definitely my best perfomance since joining TBB Trier, but it was because we worked hard as a team. This is probably the reason why I scored so many points,” Chikoko was quoted in the German Press afterwards.

The former Prince Edward schoolboy also earned praises from his coach Henrik Rödl who said Chikoko had improved tremendously since attending the NBA Euro Camp, in Treviso, Italy, from June 8 to 10 and the NBA Summer League in Texas a month later.

“I am pleased that he had such a good game. He gained valuable experience from the training camp in Italy and the NBA Summer League, but an injury during the pre-season affected his start to the season, but I’m happy he has come back in the spotlight against Tübingen.”

The fast-rising basketball protégé whose German side currently sits in 14th position out of 18 teams narrowly missed out on selection during the NBA annual draft in June.

He was subsequently invited by the Houston Rockets to play in the NBA Summer League which was held in Orlando, Florida, US, from July 12-22 before returning to Germany.

While Chikoko might not have found any takers this year, his appearance on the draft significantly boosts his chances of making the cut in the NBA in the near future.

As no player may sign with the NBA until he has been eligible for at least one draft.