It was early fall in 2020 when I remember walking into the Dragon Dome in Rhondorf. The whole world was in disarray with Covid and the Dragons Rhondorf were in their second season in the Regionalliga after having been in the Pro A only 5 years earlier. It was tough times for the organization and before anyone could get used to the solid 3-1 start into the season, the German Regionalliga would be cancelled due to Covid. I was happy that I could witness a few games of the Dragons before the season ended. I remember standing behind the Dragons basket and watching warm ups about an hour before tip off. Yassin Idbihi who at that time was working for the Dragons in management and had witnessed a super career as a player came over to me and said look at that kid. I looked over at a young and scrawny kid and at first was baffled. I asked him if he mixed up that kid with young prospect Ousmane Ndiaye a guy who made his debut with 15 years in Rhondorf and since has landed in the Spanish ACB with Palencia and is on NBA mock draft boards. He just smiled and said no no, I mean Esli. I said who? Eslie Edigin. The name sounded familiar and soon it made click that he was the little brother of Eddy Edigin a rare player that made the jump from the Regionalliga to the easyCredit BBL. This 15 year old kid had bounce and was super athletic. He would find his way into the Dragons Rotation in the next season and now is playing his second season with Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg, the farm team of BBL team MHP Riesen. Edigin is 18 years old and continues to develop in a fine fashion forward. He will never forget his days with the Dragons Rhondorf and Yassin Idbihi. ‘Yassin was very important for me. He was like a mentor for me in that time. He always gave me feedback and was always there for me when I had problems. He always listened to me’, remembered Esli Edigin (194-SG-2005)

Eslie Edigin who lists current Hamburg Tower William Christmas as the toughest player that he has ever faced on the court was born on April 11th, 2005 in Regensburg. He began playing soccer at a young age and then realized at age 12 that there was basketball. The main reason for that was because of his brother Eddy who was had just began to play with the FC Bayern Munich NBBL (U-19) team. Eddy is one of those rare players that went from the Regionalliga to the easyCredit BBL and is playing also in Ludwigsburg, but with the BBL team. Esli began playing basketball for the U-14 team of the Regensburg Baskets. In his first year he made big strides. He went from averaging 4-6 points a game to being the leading scorer of the team. Soon after he was sighted at a basketball tournament in Berlin by Bamberg and he then played JBBL (U-16) for them while being reunited with his brother Eddy who was also in their organization. He then moved to BG Bonn-Meckenheimer TuS (Oberliga) and then played with the Dragons Rhondorf club in 2021 playing 23 pro B games averaging 4.9ppg, 1.3rpg, and also played with Team Bonn/Rhoendorf U19 team (NBBL) playing 6 games averaging 10.3ppg, 1.7rpg, 1.0spg, FGP: 66.7%, 3PT: 25.9%, FT: 25.0%. His first pro B season was a big stepping stone as he averaged 16 minutes per game and right away got the full trust from head coach Julius Thomas. He scored in double figures in 6 games including in his first 3 games of the season and hit Hamburg for 18 points. He will be back in the Dragon Dome this weekend for the first time since his stay there. ‘I’m really looking forward to coming back and seeing familiar faces again. I’m really thankful how the club pushed me when I was there. I got minutes right away and got experience’, remembered Esli Edigin In Rhondorf he was teammates with other talented young German Oshane Drews who also has climbed the basketball ladder and has played 5 BBL games already with Rostock this season. Even if Drews is 4 years older than him, does he regret maybe not having gone to a smaller BBL team and playing BBL right away? ‘Oshane was a very good teammate. We played a lot of 1-1. At the start he beat me at 1-1, but at the end of the season the battles were more even. I never think about what could have been. I think that if I had gone to a smaller team, I would have had to change my game. In Ludwigsburg, I have time to develop. I’m happy with my choice’, warned Esli Edigin

In the summer of 2022 the guard who lists Lebron, James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Anthony Edwards on his personal NBA Mount Rushmore made the jump to Ludwigsburg. He was pleased with the Bonn/Rhondorf situation, but personally felt that the Ludwigsburg experience would be more meaningful. Plus there were some uncertainties with Bonn/Rhondorf that also made him decide to leave. Last season he and the young tLudwigsburg eam had to pay their dues. The club struggled and he had to find himself and needed adjustment time. He averaged 8.2ppg, 2.7rpg, 1.0apg, 1.0spg, FGP: 61.8%, 3PT: 40.0%, FT: 70.0% in the Pro B and in the NBBL averaged 11.2ppg, 3.9rpg, 1.4apg, 1.3spg, FGP: 52.8%, 3PT: 37.7%, FT: 64.1%;In the pro B he scored in double figures 8 times including scoring 21 points against Hanau and 19 points against Koblenz. In the NBBL he scored in double figures 6 times including netting 23 points against Jena and 22 points against Urspring. He suffered a tough 3 game playoff series lost to Urspring in the NBBL that halted their way to the Top 4 in Frankfurt. ‘The loss to Urspring was bitter. I still think about that loss today. I feel that we had to win the series. Urspring having had home court was vital. I’ll never forget the atmosphere there and this loud siren’, said Esli Edigin The ex Rhondorf guard who lists Lebron James as his GOAT is playing his second season with Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg and the club has had a great start currently at 5-1. The key to the success is simple. The team is young, but has experience, has guys that have played together for years and have a very ambitious and talented young coach with Khee Rhee. The leaders on the team are German Aeneas Jung and Nico Mojica and with young guard Luca Stuebel who could be the next type of Jacob Patrick player coming up. ‘I like the kind of energy that Aeneas brings to practice and games. I like his leadership. He forces us to be focused and will have 1-1 talks with us. Mojica is also a very good player and very emotional. He always wants the best from us. Luca is very talented. He didn’t play as much last season as he didn’t get the trust. But this season he has shown that he can play. He very well could be the next Patrick type of player here’, stressed Esli Edigin Currently he is averaging 11,0ppg, 3,5rpg, 1,0apg and 1,2spg and is shooting 45% from outside. Khee Rhee already showed last season that he had trust in him and that continues to be present this season. ‘He was straight up with me from the start telling me what he thinks of me and what my role would be. He gave me trust and confidence. I have improved a lot under him. We watch a lot of video and he has helped me read the game better’, warned Esli Edigin who feels national team teammate Ivan Kharchenkov has NBA potential.

Brothers Eddy and Esli in Bonn

Last summer he also had further incredible experience winning a Bronze at the U-18 Eurochampionships and played Addidas Next generation tournament where he scored 8 points and dueled Real Madrid and current UCLA player Jan Vide who scored 19 points. ‘Some were skeptical of how we would do, but I always knew that we had a good team, but didn’t know how we would perform. Even if we had a bitter loss to Serbia, It was a positive experience. There was a lot of intensity in the game against Real Madrid. They took charge early and we fought back, but it wasn’t enough. Vide was a scorer and I just remember him being so effortless with everything. It was also a great experience playing against high level guys’, remembered Esli Edigin Even if people have compared his game to Donovan Mitchell, he personally likes to observe Paul George and Anthony Edwards. He tries to model his game after Edwards. One might think that just through stats, he is a three and d player, but that isn’t true. He can do a lot on the offensive end and continues to get better on the defensive end. ‘I feel like I’m a two way player. At the moment I’m more of a half court defender. I want to be able to defend full court in the future and 8 seconds which will help me get more steals’, stated Esli Edigin He also has stabilized his outside shot in Ludwigsburg and has become a 40% shooter. ‘In Rhondorf my technique was always changed. I was always tweaking my shot and that was why my percentages were down. I did take a lot of reps in Rhondorf, but it just didn’t show in the stats. I want to be consistent and in Ludwigsburg, I’m keeping the same technique on my shooting stroke which has helped me’; warned Esli Edigin He knows that at the moment he has to focus most on his shooting and ball handling. It will be interesting to see where his journey will continue to go. The kid is only 18 and the sky is the limit. If he continues to have that consistent three pointer and sharpen his defense which fits the BBL’s Ludwigsburg team philosophy, then who knows he may see BBL minutes a lot quicker than anyone ever expected. It would also give the easyCredit BBL another brother duo on the same team.