Player Previews: Achile Spadone

Achile Spadone, the mystery man. Seriously, there is almost nothing on this young man. We did not even know he existed, let alone be on the roster until the actual roster came out! Further adding to the intrigue, we do not exactly know what his roster situation is. There is some conjecture that he is a preferred walk-on along the lines of Bates Jones and Michael Katsock. I am of the mindset that the 6’4, 185 lbs Guard from Geneva, Switzerland has more upside than the regular walk-on.

First, Spadone put up decent stats in the 2021 FIBA U18 European Challengers, averaging 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 3 games. Now he wasn’t particularly efficient in this small sample size but that is good volume against his peers, nonetheless. Secondly, he played for BBC Monthey-Chablais in the Swiss Basketball League in 2020/2021, Switzerland’s top basketball league. During that season he appeared in 17 games, averaged 17 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist per game. That may not sound like much, but you have to remember that he played against and with grown men much older than him. For example, the top team in the league in 2020/2021 was Lions De Genève who were led by 27-year-old Tim Derksen who was a multi-time All-WCC Selection at USF and graduated as the school’s 13th all-time leading scorer and in the top ten in many other categories. Furthermore, Spadone was the youngest player on his team, just 17 when the team’s average age was 25 (including him). Spadone seems to have played last year for St. Thomas More Prep School in Oakdale, Connecticut, but outside of a few tweets I have not been able to find any stats or extended videos. There has also been some word, which I cannot verify, that Spadone has played a fair bit on the team’s Foreign Trip as well.

In the video of Spadone that I can find, and it’s not a lot, you can see a strong guard who likes to take it to the rim and has a nice 3-point nice as well. Now since the video is a highlight reel, he makes every shot… but he looks like a nice player!

Ultimately, I cannot make a prediction about minutes and impact because we just do not know enough at this moment. Spadone could fill in now SMU Point Guard Emory Lanier’s former role, 3rd or Emergency Point Guard. Whether he does so or not depends on Spadone himself of course but also if Matt McKillop seems Riccardo Ghedini more as a wing or as a point guard. Hopefully we’ll get a better sense of the Swiss Guard’s ability and place on the team when practices start up soon.