Real Madrid has lost the pearl of its quarry, the most outstanding figure of the new batch of white players for the future. Juan Núñez, recently champion of Europe with the Spanish under-20 team and MVP of the tournament, is going to Germany, specifically to Ratiopharm Ulm. The German team finished fifth last season in the Basketball Bundesliga, the first division of basketball in the country. The man from Madrid is already a full international with Spain and has accumulated minutes in both the Endesa League and the Euroleague with the Real Madrid first team.
What pushes a young talent of this caliber to leave one of the most powerful entities in Spanish and European basketball is the foreseeable lack of opportunities. Juan Núñez finished his contract this season and it was the right time to consider his future options. Madrid is well covered in the point guard position: Sergio Rodríguez, Nigel Williams-Goss, Sergio Lull or Carlos Alocén can act in that position. Thus, Núñez's left foot was difficult to fit in despite what has been shown so far in the lower categories of the club and the national team.
The white subsidiary plays in the Spanish Amateur Basketball League (EBA), the fourth category in the hierarchy of Spanish basketball. The level jump is almost abysmal, and no matter how much quality the young point guard possesses, it is difficult to acquire shooting in the elite in a team in which the competition for the position is so high. At his age, he played a total of 180 minutes in 32 games, an average of less than six per game. In search of more opportunities, he is packing his bags in the direction of Ulm, in the region of Bavaria, where he will be able to find the intermediate step that he needs to harden himself in the elite, both in the Bundesliga and in the Eurocup.
"Thanks to all those who have helped and accompanied me, in these 7 years. I have met great people and professionals from the academy to the club's first team. I am convinced that our paths will cross again at some point in the future. future. In the meantime I wish you the best of luck," wrote Juan Núñez in a farewell post on his Instagram account. The base had a renewal offer on the table, in addition to several proposals from the United States, but he chose to remain in Europe.
Núñez is over 1.90 meters tall and is a great organizer, with a privileged vision of the game, comparable, saving the distances, to 'Chacho' Rodríguez. Without being an exceptional shooter, he has the potential to grow in this section. He was the second highest scorer for Spain in the European Under-20 with 11.6 points per game and the fourth highest assist of the entire tournament, with almost five per game.
This is the latest case of a trend accentuated in recent times: the flight of talent in the Real Madrid youth academy. He is the sixth player of the 2021 junior Euroleague champion generation to leave the white discipline. Before him, in just a few months, came Henri Veesaar (University of Arizona), Tristan Vukcevic (Partizan Belgrade), Sediq Garuba (Cartagena), Urban Klavzar (UCAM Murcia) and Baba Miller (University of Florida). Diamonds need to be polished, and in Madrid there seems to be no space or time for it.
