The Perth Wildcats’ newest Next Star Izan Almansa is looking to follow in the footsteps of Alexandre Sarr, boosting his draft stocks by spending a season developing his game in the NBL.

Sarr was selected with the number two overall pick at Thursday’s NBA Draft, gaining strong plaudits for his ability to match it against professionals in Australia over the past year.

Already touted as one of the greatest ever youth players in international basketball, Almansa is looking to tread a similar path.

"Since the moment I withdrew from the draft, I knew I wanted to play for Perth,” he told the Perth Wildcats website.

"I would love to follow in (Sarr's) footsteps in becoming a lottery pick and also win a championship with the Wildcats."

Almansa was named MVP of the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup, 2022 FIBA U18 European Championships and 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup. He was the first non-USA player to be named MVP of the U17 World Cup, and the first ever player to be named MVP of both the U17 World Cup and the U19 World Cup.

It’s quite the resume so early in his career and Almansa's game will only grow under the tutelage of John Rillie, as part of the Wildcats’ program.

"Izan is a player we have long recruited," Perth’s General Manager of Basketball Operations, Danny Mills said.

Almansa was a member of Real Madrid’s Youth Academy for two years, before developing his game in the USA at Overtime Elite and playing for the G League Ignite last season.

“Securing Izan’s signature is a massive coup for the Next Stars and further solidification of the confidence prospects have in the NBL and the program,” NBL General Manager of Next Stars Recruitment, Liam Santamaria said upon his signing.

The success of the NBL’s Next Stars program is being recognised worldwide, with four players, Sarr, AJ Johnson, Bobi Klintman and Ariel Hukporti selected during last week’s NBA Draft and Trentyn Flowers signed soon after.

Mantas Rubstavicius has been called up to play with the Golden State Warriors during the NBA’s Summer League tournament, while Rocco Zikarsky and Alex Toohey are already being in early mock drafts for 2025.

Read the full story >> Spanish sensation joins Wildcats as Next Star