Ireland U16 men's squad selected for FIBA Youth EuroBasket 2025

Fred Klimas and Declan Ehigie will represent Ireland U16 men at FIBA Youth EuroBasket for a second year in succession, after being named in head coach Emer Howard's final roster for the tournament, which begins on August 7th against Slovakia in North Macedonia.  

The duo both performed well as starters in that competition, averaging a combined 14.5 points-per game, 8.8 rebounds-per game and 5.5 assists as Ireland secured wins over Great Britain, Norway and Bosnia & Herzegovina. Klimas led his school, Salesians Pallaskenry to the final of the U16 Boys All-Ireland Schools Cup title earlier this year, topping the boxscore in the final with 20-points.

Schools from five counties - Kerry, Dublin, Antrim, Limerick and Meath are represented in the squad, while Ehigie, Kieran O'Shaughnessy, Aidan McGrath, Hubert Gocek and Nemanja Prodanic -are based overseas in the USA, Spain and Germany respectively.  Oblate BC (Michael Kenny and Lewis Adjinakou) and St. Declan's BC (Nojus Vasikauskas and Elliott Kristiansen) are the only clubs with more than one representative on the roster. 6'5 forward Layden O'Neill of Belfast Star and 6'9 centre Etinosa Ehioghae from Swords BC make up the remainder of the squad. 

Ireland have been drawn in Group B alongside Slovakia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Poland and hosts North Macedonia, beginning with a tough opening contest with Slovakia on Thursday, August 7th, followed by games against North Macedonia and Bosnia on Friday August 8th and Saturday August 9th. Ireland will close group play on Monday, August 11th and Tuesday, August 12th against Cyprus and Poland following a day's rest. 

“As excited as we are about the team that we have selected, we are genuinely sorry to leave behind some very talented players, athletes and super young men who will hopefully get the opportunity to wear the green jersey in the near future," said head coach Emer Howard. "We now move into the crucial stage of preparation as we lock our focus on representing Ireland to the very best of our ability this August in North Macedonia.”

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Group: 

Group B: Ireland, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Cyprus, Poland, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Fixtures:

Ireland v Slovakia, Thursday, August 7th, TBC

North Macedonia v Ireland, Friday, August 8th, TBC

Bosnia & Herzegovina v Ireland, Saturday, August 9th, TBC

Ireland v Cyprus, Monday, August 11th, TBC 

Poland v Ireland, Tuesday August 12th, TBC

Ireland squad:

Lewis Adjinakou (Oblate BC), Declan Ehigie (PA Hoops Academy, USA), Etinosa Ehioghae (Swords BC), Hubert Gocek (CBA, Spain/Limerick Celtics), Michael Kenny (Oblate BC), Fred Klimas (Limerick Lions), Elliott Kristiansen (St. Declan's BC), Aidan McGrath (Thayer Academy, USA), Layden O'Neill (Belfast Star), Kieran O'Shaughnessy (St Ignatius Prep, USA), Nemanja Prodanic (Baskets Juniors Oldenburg, Germany), Nojus Vasikauskas (St. Declan's BC).