The inaugural Pangos All-Euro Camp is in the books and after two days of competition and evaluation, there is a clear-cut Cream of the Crop performer in forward Noah Penda (No. 50 in the photo above) from Paris, France, who has aspirations to be a top-notch pro. Young prospects shined while interior players were eager to learn.

RELATED -- Pangos All-Euro: Hopefuls Make Statement!

The 55 players who came from all over Europe to the first Pangos All-Euro Camp aspire to play at the highest level possible. The majority have dreams of playing NCAA basketball or at a big-time high school in the United States, but the player who stood out from the rest of the pack is well on his way to achieving his pro dream.

Noah Penda, a 6-foot-7 18-year old (2023) from Paris, France, is eligible to play collegiate basketball in 2023-24, but he feels the best way to an established pro career is by playing professional basketball. He told Ballislife he will be playing for JA Vichy-Clermont Métropole Basket, a French pro team that plays in the Pro B league, France's second division of pro basketball. Penda has plenty of international experience and was the most impactful player at the two-day camp held at Basketaki Arena in Athens, Greece.

Penda could have easily been one of the camp's leading scorers or been ball-dominant against lesser players. He was everything but that for his "Lakers" team, leading them to a perfect 3-0 camp record with unselfish play, smarts and a calming presence. Penda doesn't force any shots and is always looking to make the simple play with excellent interior and hit ahead passing skill. He averaged 10.7 ppg in three games, but that doesn't begin to tell his impact, as Penda made the right read 100 percent of the time and contributed plenty of "hockey" assists. It's the approach he took, and added more to, from his experience with the French 19U national team.

"They expect me to do a bit of everything, from rebounding to guarding the top player on the other team," Pena said. "I just came out here to try and dominate and show what I can do."

If there was any doubt or debate about whom the All-Euro Camp's Most Outstanding Player was, Penda settled that in the Cream of the Crop All-Star Game reserved for the camp's 30 best players. Penda (who models his game after former NBA standout Carmelo Anthony and current star Luka Doncic) only scored five points, but he dominated the glass and created opportunities for others, finishing with eight rebounds and six assists.

Predictably Penda's Blue team won the game, 81-68, and he put his stamp on the camp with a vicious conventional 3-point play, two-handed power dunk through the key right before halftime that gave his team a 45-31 halftime lead. The Gold team got within seven points (58-51) with 11 minutes remaining in the second half, but could get no closer.

Penda easily could have been the game's MVP as well, but the hardware went to 6-foot-1 17-year old (2026) Eldin Ejubovic of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The slick combo guard nailed three 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Ejubovic is eager to learn the game and improve his skill level. Many of the post players received quality input from Zisis Sarikopoulos, a former pro player from Greece who played collegiately at UAB and Ohio State and was the lead instructor for the camp's skill session. The MVP for the Blue team as chosen by the scouts in attendance was 6-foot-9 17-year old (2024) Stavros Karpouzis of Thessaloniki, Greece. The rugged power forward had seven points and seven rebounds and did a good job of making his presence felt on defense.

Two of the camp's more athletic players also made an impact in the Cream of the Crop All-Star Game. For the winning Blue Team that was 6-foot-3 18-year old (2023) Alleia Ivan Mobio of Alba, Italy. The athletic wing player made his mark with defense and energy, finishing with nine points, five rebounds and two steals. For the Gold Team, that player was 6-foot-4 18-year old (2024) Rodney Ekwoanya of London, England. He had 10 points and a couple of highlight reel blocks. The rangy athlete will play in 2023-24 at Evergreen Christian School (Leesburg, Va.)

Scoring 12 points for the Blue Team was six-foot 18-year old (2023) Divine Nnadi of Athens, Greece. Nnadi is a sound shooting guard who can create offense and forces the defense to give up real estate or make the officials call something because of his aggressive style.

Giorgos Giantsidis wasn't always aggressive, but made his mark at this camp with his outside shooting stroke. He was arguably the event's top marksman and the 6-foot-4 guard from Athens with the sweet stroke has only been 14 since May. Giantsidis, who idolizes NBA star Steph Curry, finished with 10 points, which he netted all in his first shift to follow up on his terrific shooting performance during his Thursday morning camp game.

"My intent coming in to this camp was to just play basketball, that's what I wanted to do, I didn't have any other expectations," Giantsidis said. "This was a good camp and I was trying to do my best. During the week, I get up 200 shots a day and on the weekend, I get up over 1,000. I don't have as much free time during the week, you know."

There were plenty of camp standouts who didn't necessarily have great showings in the Cream of the Crop All-Star Game. Among the players not mentioned in our first Pangos All-Euro Camp report include 6-foot-4 17-year old (2024) Paris Papadatos of Athens, 6-foot-6 17-year old (2024) Atanasij Trajanov of Macedonia, and 6-foot-4 15-year old (2027) Lukas Novakovic of Stockholm, Sweden.

Papadatos displayed a nice crossover and covers ground with the dribble. Trajanov got downhill as well as any wing guard in attendance and was a quality board man. Novakovic got more comfortable as the camp wore on and made solid reads with the ball.

Among the players not chosen for the Cream of the Crop All-Star Game who made an impact with their solid all-around play and were rated as one of the three best players on their respective team in at least two of the three camp games include 6-foot-3 16-year old (2025) Stathis Karatzas of Patras, Greece and 6-foot-8 17-year old (2025) Melchizedek Andre of London, England.

France u17 & INSEP's Noah Penda with a magisterial smitty at the decision point, totally fooling the coverage and the helpside. Such an underutilized move in slot PNR. pic.twitter.com/M6u0aFDmcE

— PD Web (@abovethebreak3) August 15, 2022

Ronnie Flores is the National Grassroots Editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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RELATED -- Pangos All-Euro: Noah Penda is Cream of Crop!

The Pangos brand has been a strong force on the American grassroots basketball circuit for two decades now and entering its third decade, founder, owner and director Dinos Trigonis decided to branch out and host his first-ever camp across international waters in Europe. In 2018, Trigonis held a Pangos All-Canada Camp in Toronto, so it was only fitting that his first camp held in Europe be in Athens because of his Greek roots. The two-day camp has a true international flavor to it with over 55 prospects representing 16 countries and a wide range of ages. After one day of evaluation, it's safe to say the talent didn't disappoint.

The first Pangos All-Euro Camp Most Outstanding Player won't be decided until after Thursday's Cream of the Crop All-Star Game reserved for the top performers. It wouldn't surprise us if the MOP is one of the upperclass forwards in attendance.

Among the most impressive of the lot was 6-foot-5 17-year old (2024) Tomas Stankevicius of Kaunas, Lithuania. Stankevicius is a wing forward who has a nondescript aura about him with a skill set to be a big guard one day soon. He doesn't pop out on first appearance but the more you watch him, the more his impressive game stands out. Stankevicius has good offensive instincts from the triple threat or off the dribble, can see passing lanes, has good form on his jump shot and is sneaky athletic. He may not have great vertical pop, but he knows how to avoid defender's arms and body by contorting his own or hanging in the air just as long as necessary to finish the play. When you add that package to his strong frame, long arms and soft hands, you have quite the prospect.

Another one of the better all-around face-up wings in attendance was 6-foot-8 18-year old (2024) Georgios Vassilakis of Helsinki, Finland. Nobody rebounded out his area and with more authority than Vassilakis, who had double-digit rebounds in both of his camp games on Wednesday. He also had games of 18 and 14 points, which led his "Nuggets" team on both occasions.

Vassilakis (whose father is from Greece) can push the ball off the glass himself and displayed solid range on his outside stroke, including an effective mid-range pull up. He also can change direction and get his shoulders by defenders on his strong drives and has good timing as a shot blocker. He definitely has one of the nicest package of skill among all campers in attendance and is one of the handful of surefire D1 prospects

Among true post players, the biggest load inside was 6-foot-9 17-year old (2024) Stavros Karpouzis of Thessaloniki, Greece. Karpouzis definitely knows what he is (a back to the basket presence) and where his bread-and-butter lays. He punishes defenders, has workable feet and an array of interior moves that project. Karpouzis is also a terrific rebounder and has the skill set and approach to improve rapidly.

For many of the campers, the goal is to build enough exposure or attract enough attention to play NCAA basketball or finish playing high school ball in America, where the competition prepares a young prospect best for the rigors or pro basketball. One of the more mature players in attendance who could make an impact right away on the next level is 6-foot-7 18-year old (2023) Noah Penda of Paris, France. Penda has a rugged frame that translate well with an accommodating skill level. He can beat defenders off the dribble with a sneaky change of direction dribble to get downhill and is a willing and able passer. Penda, who has experience with France's 19U National Team, just needs polish up his overall offense to make himself an attractive option for a low D1, high D2 or national JUCO, as he is college eligible for 2023-24.

Among the younger forwards, Yannos Xanthopoulos arguably has the most potential. The 6-foot-8 Athens native is listed as a 2024 prospect, but he's still 16 years old and has plenty of room for growth and improvement. Xanthopoulos can run the floor well for his size, has good timing around the basket and a quality face-up game. Once he develops a more aggressive mentality and realizes he can impact games at a higher frequency by taking charge instead of playing a secondary role, the sky is the limit for this local product.

In the first installment of this camp, the group was a bit apprehensive in drills and to begin play, but picked up the intensity as the first long day wore on. The backcourt players definitely needed to take charge more and show more leadership instead of waiting for someone else or a teammate to do it. One of the reasons for that was the more talented lead guards were underclassmen. The one with the most feel and passing ability was 6-foot-3 16-year old (2026) Noel Emile-Lewis Mantock of Novi Sad, Serbia.

Mantock's passing ability is top-notch and in addition to making the right reads at the right time, he can execute tough passes without over-extending. He threaded the needle on a 40-foot bounce pass against the grain that would have made plenty of D1 college guards envious by the ease in which he did it. Mantock, whose father is Jamaican, has a nice array of offensive moves off the dribble and a quality first step.

Below are some of the other young guards (by age or class) who turned heads on the first day of the Pangos All-Euro Camp:

Angelos Bratakos, Athens (Greece) 6-2 (2024) 16
Quality ball-handler that knows how to get square to the rim.

Neo Anker Allarp Dengaky, Copenhagen (Denmark) 6-1 (2028) 14
Talented with blow by ability, and is working on not getting in the air to make a play.

Themistoklis Donakis, Thessaloniki (Greece) 6-0 (2026) 14
A deft ball-handler who can see the game.

Orestis Koutras, Psihiko (Greece) 6-0 (2025) 15
Knows how to play with pace and can really shoot the piss out of it.

Bilal Raymond Pedersen, Copenhagen (Denmark) 6-2 (2026) 17
Can sprint with the ball and has a nice pull-up game.

Ronnie Flores is the National Grassroots Editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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