GERMANY IS KNOCKING

Viennese talent on the radar of the world champions

Aaron Stazic (left) drew the attention of basketball world champions Germany.(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

His father Stjepan played in the top European basketball leagues in Italy, Spain and Russia. The 16-year-old Viennese Aaron Stazic is a member of BC Vienna's Superliga squad and has now been called up to the German U17 national team. His mother is "to blame" for this.

Aaron Stazic scored eleven points in BC Vienna's 118:66 win in the domestic Basketball Super League in Eisenstadt on Sunday. Almost routine for the 16-year-old. Since the start of the season, the 2.02-meter-tall youngster has been in the squad of the club that his uncle Petar and his father Stjepan have been running for around a decade and a half.

He showed his international talent in the Alpe Adria Cup, which is how he caught the attention of Dirk Bauermann. The 66-year-old is one of the most successful coaches in his native Germany and has been youth manager of the reigning world champions since last year. As such, he visited Vienna during the international break to get a picture of Aaron and to select him for the German U17 team. After the home game against Oberwart on March 24, Aaron will join the German team.

But why Germany? "Aaron's mother is German, so he has a German passport," explains uncle and BC manager Petar. "My wife is Russian, so we have many different nationalities in the family." And a heart that also beats for basketball in the next generation.