
pic credit Maik Exner
A little more than 2 years ago German basketball fans in Germany witnessed an incredible JBBL (U-16) semi final between Alba Berlin and the RheinStars Cologne. It wasn´t Larry Bird vs Dominique Wilkins, but Matthieu Grujicic of Alba Berlin (35 points) and Davi Remagen of Cologne (41 points) that offered an incredible scoring battle that showed once again how much talent is in Germany. These two 16 youngsters played the game they love and showed absolute no fear playing as if they were all alone on a court. But there was one more player on the court who had just as much talent, but was a bit in the shadow with Kenan Reinhart (194-SG-2007) who supplied 16 points in the 84-79 loss to Alba Berlin. 2 years later both Grujicic and Remagen are playing in the NCAA and profiting from NIL while Reinhart is in Germany playing in the Pro B for the Dragons Rhondorf. All 3 guys have gone separate ways and are on a mission to continue to develop further. All 3 have some pressure, but for Kenan Reinhart it is a kind of pressure that he can live and deal with. Last season he averaged 3,0ppg in 10 minutes. I can imagine he will average 20 plus minutes this season and will have to step up as a teenager in the Pro B. “I make a lot of pressure for myself, because I have high expectations of myself. My season was unacceptable last season. I want to make the next step so I need to prove myself in the Pro B. I really like this pressure, because I need it to reach my full potential”, warned Kenan Reinhart.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber and Kenan Reinhart in the Dragon Dome 2025
Kenan Reinhart who is a mix of Andi Obst and Reed Shepherd on the court is very excited going into his second season with the Dragons Rhondorf. “I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I´m very excited and on the other hand very happy. I understand that I will have a bigger role while having a complete new team. We will see what the season brings us”, smiled Kenan Reinhart. One of the biggest changes was bringing in a head coach with Max Becker. At first glance he looks like a kid and could be Reinhart´s teammate, because he looks so young, but he is already 26 years old and had done a good job with the Telekom Baskets Bonn youth department. His smile is infectious, but can he ever get mad? “He may look like a kid, but he can get mad. Then he definitely doesn´t act like a kid. He is still young, but I´m confident that he will do a good job”, stressed Kenan Reinhart. Becker has already stressed early in pre season exactly what his basketball philosophy will be. “Max wants us to push the ball and play as fast as possible. If that doesn´t work, then we will do the set offense. We want to play good defense and function as a team”, stated Kenan Reinhart. The question will be can this team be successful with a new young coach and young team? Will there be enough consistent fire power besides from Jorge Mejias and Juhwan Harris Dyson? “This season we are playing in the North which is tougher than the south. I feel like the hunger was missing a bit last season. This season we have a good mix of old and young and have hunger. I think we have other possibilities to score with Daniel Mayr, Duje Dujmovic, Lagi Diallo and myself. Vuk Scepanovic can also hit the occasional three pointer. We will see from game to game which scorers will evolve”, warned Kenan Reinhart.”, warned Kenan Reinhart.

The ex RheinStars Cologne guard who beats Vuk Scepanovic everytime in a battle of 1-1 in practice has many new teammates this season. He has been joined by 2 young big men with Benjamin Sadikovic and Duje Dujmovic. Can they be stable scorers at the Pro B level? “I thought that Sadikovic was older when he signed. He is a stable center that is great on the pick and roll. I was teammates with Dujmovic once already in Cologne. He is also hungry and continues to develop nicely”, said Kenan Reinhart. One player that will produce not only in the scoring department, but fill the stat sheet like Kam Taylor and Curtis Hollis from back in the day will be Juhwan Harris Dyson. “I really adore his physicality. He is always playing hard. He gives his all in each movement. His effort is excellent. He is simply a high level player”, warned Kenan Reinhart. Another player that will be watched with enjoyment is young player Dusan Iiic who had a great youth career with BBA Hagen. Last season he averaged 20,0ppg and 10,0apg in the NBBL. It seems like despite his young age of 17 could also play an instrumental role. Could he have a break through season like Janne Muller 2 years ago? “I think he can. This will be his first Pro B season. It will be interesting to see how well he can produce. He will be a vital player that we will count on”, commented Kenan Reinhart. The leader of the team will be Spaniard Jorge Mejias who has a lot of experience like Daniel Mayr and was walking around the Real Madrid training facility 8 years ago and bumping into Luka Doncic. “I´m really happy to play with him and against him in practice every day. I´m working on my court vision and passing. There is nobody better than to learn those things from than him. I´m learning fast. He does it all”, warned Kenan Reinhart. The team has many talented young guys like Schmidt, Volkers, Scepanovic, Boning and Dobiecki. Is there a player form this bunch that could make the biggest splash in the Pro B this season? “I think that Carlo Schmid will be the guy. He has only played basketball for 2 years. He has a good body for basketball. I believe he can play well at the Pro B level”, added Kenan Reinhart.
The sniper who lists big man Andreas Seifert as the toughest player that he has ever faced on the court is more than eager to make the next step this season. His expectations and goals are high. “I want to help lead the team into the playoffs as a starter. I want to not only stand in the corner and shoot three´s, but be versatile. I want to be able to do it all and integrate, rebounding, passing, scoring and defense into my game”, said Kenan Reinhart. Last season he averaged 3,0ppg in 10 minutes of time. Can he average scoring in double figures this season? “I think I can. I won´t do it each game, but I feel like I will be consistent”, explained Kenan Reinhart. He only shot 23% from the parking lot in the pro B last season. It is only obvious that he wants to improve those percentages drastically. “My three pointer is one of my best qualities. I have high goals with my three pointer. My team is counting heavily on me. I have to have a good shooting season”, warned Kenan Reinahrt. But he doesn´t only want to make an impact on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end. His ex head coach 1993 Euro winner Stephan Baeck always told him that if he defends well than he will stay on the court. “I want to average at least 1 steal per game. My goal is not to let my guy score on me”, stressed Kenan Reinhart. He definately has the right mind set as he is getting up many shots every day and always trying to prefect his craft. “I think that if I add it all up, I get up about 300 shots on the machine and in total 500 shots a day. When I´m spot up shooting, I make around 80% with the first 100 shots, 70% with the second 100 shots and somewhere between 65%-70% with the last 100 shots”, added Kenan Reinhart. It will be interesting to see where the journey of the Dragons Rhondorf will go this season and how well Kenan Reinhart continues to develop. In the last few years, I was helping rebound for Janne Muller before games. I mostly heard only swish with his mid range shot. Maybe this season, I can rebound for Kenan Reinhart and then hear swish when he is firing away from down town before games.






