Lauri Markkanen

Lauri Markkanen
No. 10 – Arizona Wildcats
Position Power forward / Center
League Pac-12 Conference
Personal information
Born (1997-05-22) May 22, 1997
Vantaa, Finland
Nationality Finnish
Listed height 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)
Listed weight 104.3 kg (230 lb)
Career information
High school Helsinki Basketball Academy
(Helsinki, Finland)
College Arizona (2016–present)
Playing career 2014–present
Career history
2014–2016 HBA-Märsky
Career highlights and awards

Lauri Markkanen (born May 22, 1997) is a Finnish basketball player, who has signed a letter of intent to play college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats in the 2016-17 basketball season. He is the son of the Finnish basketball players Pekka and Riikka Markkanen.

International career

Europe

Markkanen made his international debut with the Finnish U-18 national team at the 2015 FIBA U-18 European Championship. Markkanen averaged 18.2 points per game to lead the FIBA U18 European Championship in the summer of 2015.[1] Before that, though, he had previously played for the HBA-Märsky in Finland from 2014–2016.

College career

Freshman season

On October 17, 2015, Markkanen verbally committed to NCAA Division I squad Arizona Wildcats prior to the 2016–17 season.[2][3][4] Lauri was signed a letter to intent to Arizona on Nov. 11th. ESPN.com reported that the seven-foot Finn is considered "a possible one-and-done candidate for the NBA draft."[1]

Personal life

Lauri is the son of Pekka (who played NCAA basketball at Kansas)[1] and Riikka Markkanen, he has two brothers Miikka and professional soccer player, Eero Markkanen.

Markkanen's father, Pekka in his career reached the level of the Finnish national basketball team, and his mother Riikka (née Ellonen) reached the basketball championship silver, and also appeared in the national team level.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jeff Borzello. "Finnish big man Lauri Markkanen commits to Arizona". ESPN.com.
  2. ↑ "UA basketball: Finnish big man Markkanen commits". Arizona Daily Star. October 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ Jeremy Woo (October 17, 2015). "Finnish forward Lauri Markkanen commits to Arizona". Sports Illustrated.
  4. ↑ Sam Vecenie (October 17, 2015). "Finland's five-star forward Lauri Markkanen commits to Arizona". CBS Sports.
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