Being a basketball referee and having a big love for the game, my column this week has to be on the major local basketball news in the past days, namely the fact that young local giant Samuel Deguara signed an impressive nine-year contract with none other than the Italian powerhouse, and one of the best teams in Europe, Benetton Treviso.

Maybe some of the readers are not accustomed to basketball in Europe and cannot understand the fame that Treviso has in the professional circles. However, if I make a quick comparison with football and state that Treviso is in Europe as Real Madrid and Chelsea are in Europe as regards football, I think almost everybody can understand the comparison.

Italian basketball is constantly growing and has a history of attracting some of the best players in the world. Basketball has always had much less exposure than football. However, Italian basketball has always had its fans and is gaining in popularity, currently it is the number two spectator sport. In some Italian cities such as Bologna, basketball rivals soccer in devotion.

Today the top league in Italy, known as Lega Basket Serie A, is considered the world’s third most elite basketball league behind the NBA and the Spanish league ACB.

The two most dominant teams in Italian league history have been Olimpia Milano (officially Pallacanestro Milano) and more recently Benetton Basket Treviso (officially Pallacanestro Treviso).

Treviso is well-known for having one of the top programs in the world for finding and developing potential basketball stars. I am not saying this because Deguara has signed with them, but because this is an undeniable fact backed with statistics.

The fact that Deguara has put pen onto paper for a long nine-year contract (up to 2016) shows that Treviso have faith in our local boy’s talent, abilities and future potential.Treviso already have the Italian league’s tallest player, Gino Cuccarolo, who stands at 220 cms (3 cms than Deguara’s present height as doctors believe that Deguara, who wears massive size 58 shoes, has still to grow further). Statistic-wis ethe tallest player ever to play in Italy was Manute Bol (a Sudanese native who also played in the NBA) who stood at 231 cms and played 2 games with Forli in 1996.

I can vouch to have seen Deguara from the very start, when he was introduced some 2 years ago and made his first appearances with the Hamrun Liberty (now defunct) youth team. At that time he was completely new to the game and lacked game knowledge but still showed an adequate fitness level (for his height) and an aptitude to learn new movements.

Since then, Deguara has been showing gradual progress. When Hamrun disappeared from the local scene, Deguara became property of the association and he was loaned to play with the modest Naxxar youth team.

In the meantime, Deguara was taken under the guidance of national team coach Bruno di Pietrantonio and he was also named (for experience sake), despite his naïve level of play, with the senior men’s squad.

Exactly this time last year, I was present in Andorra and saw Deguara play with the Malta Under-16 team in the Promotion Cup. He impressed a number of people there and amassed some interesting statistics. Deguara needs to ‘beef up’ to play tough under the boards but he already possesses a delicate shooting hand from mid-distance and has a good free-throw shot (a factor that many big men lack as the latter are usually mediocre in shooting away from the basket).

Even at that time, there was the evidence of some European interest in the kid but Deguara (who was born in Pieta and will be 16 tomorrow week on the 21st) returned to Malta and continued in his training apart from growing an impressive 4cms in the past year and now stands at 223 cms.

Contacts and talks were being made in the background on Deguara’s future. Those around me know that I always stated that every day Deguara remains in Malta is literally a ‘wasted day’. I was of this belief not out of disrespect for the Malta game but because the kid is in his best days to learn and develop his game and playing against no one of his stature would not build him in a powerful centre. On the other hand, joining a foreign professional set-up would open Deguara’s eyes to the real reality of basketball and hopefully widen his future chances in the game.

Deguara went for a trial in Treviso in the past weeks. One has to say that dozens of youngsters attend the Treviso talent spotting sessions as for many it is a dream to join such a big team.

In the trial (even though he was sporting a toe injury), Deguara reportedly left a good impression on Treviso's coaching and scouting staff, in particular for his coordination (in spite of his towering stature) and for his ability to shoot.

In fact, according to reports in the international press (astonishingly news about the signing of Deguara by Treviso was splashed out in many renowned international newspapers and web sites) the general director of Treviso, Giorgio Buzzavo, was very impressed and demanded to sign Deguara as early as possible.

Interestingly enough, one of the first requests made by Deguara (who is the son of a small building entrepreneur and of a two-metre tall woman) was for a bicycle made to measure so as to be able to be move easier about.

Now it all rests on Deguara and his motivation and will to adapt to the professional set-up in Treviso and to work hard under the watchful eyes of the talented coaches so that he will develop his game and improve his chances to rise in the club’s echelons.

As it is (according to reports) his contract is quite generous and the financial motivation is there but surely real local basketball enthusiasts would like to see Deguara develop in a powerful talented centre and hopefully wear Treviso’s famous green jersey in the Serie A and the Euroleague.

It is going to be a long, hard road but with the necessary focus, aptitude and will Deguara could make strides forward. Treviso believe in his potential and another proof of this is that they even listed a break-put clause for the NBA in Deguara’s contract.

Yet, at present, one need not hurry but only take one step at a time. In the meantime, before Deguara returns to Treviso, he will be playing for Malta Under 18 in the European Championships. Being a nominated referee for the same championships, I will be present and promise the readers to give you a resume of Deguara’s performance (and Malta’s as a whole) when I return in the coming weeks.