A couple of new names announced at Phoenix Brussels

It has been a busy off-season for Brussels and even though the summer hasn’t even started yet, their roster is clearly coming along very nicely for next season. Their latest acquisition is a name that will probably sound pretty familar for any basketball fan out there as they have announced the signing of 1m88 tall Point Guard Darius Washington (’85).

Washington is a very experienced 34 year old who has seen action all over the globe, including a season in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs. Other than his stint with the Spurs he has been a driving force for other renowned Euroleague clubs such as PAOK, Aris, Galatasaray, Virtus Roma, Turk Telekom, as well as Le Mans, CEZ Nymburk, … and the list goes on. In other words, the US-guard – who also received the Macedonian nationality and was selected for their national team – is definitely someone Brussels will look at to lead their squad in what will be somewhat of a ‘rebuilding’ season.

Besides the acquisition of Darius Washington, Brussels has also signed Belgian youngster Euden M’pela (’01), who comes over from Gistel-Oostende. So far the 18 year old guard has been with the coast-club ever since debuting there in 2010 but he now feels ready for the next step in his career in joining the Phoenix Talent Academy. It still remains to be seen though if he will already see some playing time in the Euromillions League next season.

On the other hand, Pierre Hajjar (’05), another talented youngster who has been with the Phoenix Talent Academy these past 8 years is leaving the club and will continue his development with the youth academy of the French Pro B team Antibes.