Louisville Commit Sananda Fru Named BBL's Best German Young Player

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - German big man and Louisville men's basketball commit Sananda Fru has been named the Basketball Bundesliga Best German Young Player, the BBL announced Monday.

The award is presented annually to the league's most valuable player under the age of 22, who also has German nationality. Previous winners include NBA veterans Dennis Schröder, Franz Wagner and Daniel Theis.

The 6-foot-11, 245-pound forward is currently competing with Lowen Braunschweig in the BBL, where he has been since the 2020-21 season. This year, he has been one of the most efficient players in the BBL, which is the top professional league in Germany.

Appearing in 27 regular season games so far this season for Lowen Braunschweig while starting 26, Fru is averaging 12.3 points on 66.8 percent shooting, while also putting up 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. His player efficiency rating of 17.4 leads the entire BBL.

Fru also took part in the FIBA Europe Cup with Lowen Braunschweig, playing in six games while starting three. There, he averaged 15.5 points per game while shooting 69.6 percent, on top of 5.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks per game.

Fru is one of two commitments for Louisville in the Class of 2025, joining DME Academy (Fla.) Daytona Beach point guard Mikel Brown Jr. With Brown ranked as the No. 6 player in the cycle and Fru coming in at No. 25, per 247Sports' in-house rankings, the Cardinals are one of five schools to hold commitments from multiple top-25 prospects in the cycle. They join Arizona, Arkansas, Duke and Houston.

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