This is also life, signatures that no one expected, which would have required 3 liters of Kro’ in the blood to be announced. There was the departure of Tyrese Haliburton for Indiana, there is now the arrival of Tom Digbeu at Alliance Sport Alsace. No connection between the two files, really nothing at all, but it’s too late to go back: the news doesn’t wait!
Remember: on June 19, 2019, “only” a little over three years ago, TrashTalk released a paper entitled “NBA Draft: because we are in a hurry, here are the greatest French hopes for the years to come”. Between Théo Maledon, Killian Hayes and Malcolm Cazalon, Tom Digbeu – follower of prestigious selections in the young categories – holds his rank. No place yet in the mock drafts, but already big tomars on the list and athletics followed by a legion of scouts (legion, we don’t know, but at least two or three). He was then 17 years old and played with the barcelona reserve in the Spanish second division. We finally meet in 2022, 1257 days later, for him to sign in… the second French division at the Alliance Sport Alsace. The Lithuanian D1 – Australian D1 – G League sequence has caused its rating to drop. He produced some stats in Brisbane, where the program « NBL Next Stars » (the same as LaMelo Ball and Ousmane Dieng) was supposed to prepare him for the NBA. But the fact of never having evolved within a collective with a positive balance probably deprived him of a more “collective” learning. His start to the 2022-23 season with G League side Detroit Pistons didn’t help either: four minutes of play, just one point scored, his return to France – where he won’t be undervalued – is a great thing.
At 21 years and 66 days, the son of Alain Digbeu arrives at the Alliance Sport Alsace (1-5), 18th and last Pro B club whose ambition is to join the Elite rather than move away from it. The right place to make a name for yourself as a player, and draw the curtain on this qualifier of « prospect » who wanted to say everything and nothing at the same time.
“He is a player whose potential is undeniable in speed and creation, but who has not yet found the right context to express it. – Thomas Lotz, ASA General Manager
Do you know the Alliance Sport Alsace Curse? Karlton Dimanche – ASA player last season – was also included in the paper dated June 2019 entitled “NBA Draft: because we are in a hurry, here are the greatest French hopes for the years to come”. The French leader was at that time announced 43rd in the Draft 2020 by ESPN. So we have two out of five NBA prospects who ended up in Alsace, where the letters “g” “h” and “f” can be part of the same word.