Dubai has strengthened its squad for the 2024-25 AdmiralBet ABA League season by signing Filipino basketball star Thirdy Ravena. The 27-year-old inked a one-year contract with an option for an additional season, making him the second Filipino to play in Europe after Juan Gomez de Liano's stint in the 2022-23 EuroCup and Lithuania’s Betsafe LKL.
Ravena's signing follows the recent appointment of Jurica Golemac as the first head coach in the team's history. Alongside Ravena, Dubai has added several notable players, including Awudu Abass, Danilo Andjusic, Nemanja Dangubic, Ahmet Duverioglu, Nate Mason, Klemen Prepelic, Leon Radosevic, and Aleksa Uskokovic, bringing the roster to nine players.
Ravena, who started his career with Ateneo in college basketball, spent four years with San-en NeoPhoenix in Japan’s B.League, where he became the first Filipino player in the league. In his last season, he averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game over 59 appearances.
Internationally, Ravena has represented the Philippines in the Qualifiers for the 2019 and 2023 FIBA World Cups and played in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup.
The newly-formed Dubai team will play home games at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, with ambitions to compete in continental tournaments like the Euroleague Basketball’s Turkish Airlines EuroLeague or BKT EuroCup in the coming years.
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