Tweet
Congratulations to Rienk and Ville on their graduation today (5/13/23)
-
-
Yes I will miss them both -
Congrats guys. Thanks for the memories!Compete. Defend. Rebound. Win.Comment
-
Almost makes ya wanna tear up. Great guys to represent BU and we all hope for their continued success!Originally posted by Dub View PostComment
-
Ville is training with the Men's National Team in Finland in preparation for their competition
later this summer at the FIBA World Cup
They play some warmup games on June 19 & 21 (see below)
(Chrome Browser can automatically translate for you but here are a few highlights)
"
Ville Tahvanainen is on the threshold of a professional career
6/6/2023 10:44 AM Although Ville Tahvanainen, 22, has spent the last four years in the American NCAA league, his name is familiar to Finnish basketball fans from both the youth national team courts and Susijeng. The Helsinki NMKY graduate has now returned from across the Atlantic to Finland with the goal of a professional career and a more intensive commitment to national team activities.
Ville Tahvanainen has returned to Europe after four years in the NCAA. Photos: Ville Vuorinen / Susijengi & Bradley University Athletics.
Tahvanainen's four years in the United States were a lot. The star of the basketball family managed to play 122 NCAA games over four years, where he registered career averages of 7.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in 23.0 minutes of playing time per game.
Tahvanainen quickly found his role in Bradley as a precise weapon on the offensive end, who could win individual games for his team several times a season with his accurate shooting game (career 2d shooting percentage 54%, 3d 36%, 1d 85%). The Missouri Valley Conference final tournament championship 2020 and the first place in the regular season 2023 also remained in the book of memories.
Four years also contained the basic oats of an athlete, i.e. setbacks and moments of doubt.
- In the very beginning, it took a lot of hard work to get into the gang's rotation. I think I developed a lot during the first two years and gained the coaches' trust, but the leg injury in my third season at Bradley made things difficult even in the last year, he says.
- As a whole, you have to be really satisfied. I set out to gain experience in a new operating environment and culture. Despite the pandemic and injuries, I'm really grateful for these four years and I think I'm much better as a basketball player and athlete now than I was when I left for the United States.
All players playing NCAA basketball during the coronavirus pandemic have been offered an extra year of college to make up for time lost to the pandemic. However, Tahvanainen already decided in the winter that he would take the old continent as his direction.
- It has been my dream since the beginning to become a professional. Bradley is a dear place to me, but when it started to look like I would finish my graphic design major in the target time, I decided to continue chasing my dream of becoming a professional.
The wolf gang influenced the decision to become a professional
Ville Tahvanainen is certainly a familiar name to those who have followed the Wolf Gang for a long time.
The student from Stad, who went to high school in HBA-Märsky, made his debut in Susijeng already in the summer of 2018, after only turning eighteen years old, and in one of his first international matches, he upset Latvia with 24 points and a decisive throw in front of Janis Strelnieks.
After the pandemic, university obligations and last summer spent sick, Tahvanai has not been seen in a wolf shirt for a couple of years. However, the national team summer 2023 is here and leads through June's Susijengi Rising Stars camp to the Chinese Universiade in July-August and the Asian World Championships in August-September.
- I spent the whole of last summer healing my leg and that's why I wasn't able to take part in the wolf camps. Now, of course, I'm really excited when I get to play and compete with my old friends, Tahvanainen smiles.
- Of course, my dream is to play in Asia in the World Cup competition and represent Finland there. However, let's go one workout at a time and gradually towards the goals.
Tahvanainen's move to Europe also means that she will be at Susijeng's disposal in the qualifiers for the coming years, with her natural strengths, which include, for example, versatile dribble, international-level three-point shooting and ball-handling ability.
- That's actually one of the reasons why I didn't want to return to university for the fifth year. I want to spend more time with Susijeng, give performances in the national team shirt and represent my home country.
Little boys became professionals
If Tahvanainen's career so far is placed in a wider frame of reference, it must be noted that she was an important part of the jubilation march of juniors born in 1999–2001 in Europe in 2015 and 2016.
The age group in question reached sixth place in the U16 boys European Championships in the summer of 2015 and fifth in 2016, and cheated the U17 boys of a place in the World Championships in the summer of 2016. During Tahvanainen's contract in the United States, his age group has moved to the professional field, starting with Mikael Jantuse and Elias Valtose, while names like Olivier Nkamhoua and Mustapha Amzil have done made a name for himself in the NCAA.
- We are really close with many guys in this age group. I'm proud of my friends and what everyone has achieved so far. We've had the desire to reach the top and I'm excited that now we're all at professional age and we can continue down the hill, Ville smiles.
Tahvanainen was still deciding on the command post of his first professional season. The agent office has been selected and the national team's summer serves as a showcase.
- The aim is now to give displays during the summer and go directly to the fields of Europe. The goal is to find a place where minutes, responsibility and development are known right from the start.
Ville Tahvanainen and Susijengi Rising Stars will meet in their home tournament at URHEA hall in Helsinki on Monday 19.6. Latvian and on Wednesday 21.6. Estonia"
ALSO-- Here's an interview (but you may need to be signed in to IG to view)
"One of the other players from Susijengi Rising Stars camp who returned after a longer break
s Ville Tahvanainen. In the video, (his) comments on how it feels to be back with (the National Team)
and what he expects from the coming summer."
also, some video showing Ville and his teammates
Koch Bar will be playing for South Sudan-
Comment
Comment