Italian Small Forward Awudu Abass has confessed his emotions when donning the national team jersey in a recent interview.
Speaking to FIBA ahead of the 2019 World Cup, the 25 year old stated he was proud to represent Italy at the global event. This year’s competition is Italy’s first in 13 years.
During the World Cup Trophy Tour stop in Milan, Abass made the deep statement after helping the Azzuri’s qualification thanks to his averages of 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 12 games.
Despite being eligible to play for Ghana due to his father being Ghanaian, Abass represented Italy at the Under 20 European Championship in 2013 helping the team win gold.
“I’m proud to wear the national team jersey, I fought hard and made sacrifices for that…The World Cup is something amazing, Italy hasn’t been a part of it for many years and we are very excited for the challenge ahead” he said.
Abass plays for Brescia and is a former league winner but missed out on this season’s playoffs.
He is in line to play in his second tournament at the senior level after featuring in the 2017 EuroBasket. In 30 games for Brescia, the 6 foot 7 inch Abass averaged 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in 31.5 minutes.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
