Traiskirchen's new player

“Giant” only came to basketball during Corona

With Erik Dietz, one of the greatest domestic basketball talents is joining Traiskirchen.(Bild: Peter Brazil)

With the extension of Aleksej Kostic, Traiskirchen's basketball players have secured the biggest local diamond in the rough, and the "Lions" have now also acquired a talent with a lot of size: Erik Dietz, already 2.08 m tall at the tender age of 16, joins the Superliga semi-finalists from Salzburg. The young giant has only been a basketball player for a short time.

Erik Dietz was already able to get a taste of the second division at Salzburg last season. The inside player played an average of around ten minutes in 13 games. The 2.08-meter hopeful is now venturing to Traiskirchen to further his athletic development with the LIONS and at ÖLSZ Südstadt. "We've had Erik on our radar for around two years as one of the most exciting talents in Austria," reveals Lions Managing Director Paul Handler, "and we're delighted that he's decided to make the move to Traiskirchen."

Dietz only got into basketball during the coronavirus pandemic. Before that, he was a soccer player. And has developed rapidly since making the switch. Last season, he was already with the U16 national team at the European B Championships in Romania, and this year he is back in the extended U18 team squad. "It's a great honor for me to be given new opportunities by moving to Traiskirchen," Dietz is convinced, "I'm already looking forward to the coming season and the new challenges."

And alongside a colleague from the U18 national team: Jamie Feiel. As captain, he led Traiskirchen's U19s to the runner-up title - and now the guard has been given an extension.