REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - The U20 European Championship has tipped off in Crete and besides being able to enjoy the Mediterranean climate and great Greek cuisine, the tournament also features loads of great players who will soon be playing for their respective senior national teams.

Instead of listing just the best players, I decided to look at five guys who I will be particularly watching with the future in mind.

Aleksandar Vezenkov, PF, Bulgaria 

After the first two games, it's clear that Cypriot-born Aleksandar Vezenkov is the real deal for Bulgaria. The 1995-born is playing a year underage but that hasn't stopped him from dominating with averages of 22 points, 14 rebound and three assists versus Poland and France thus far.

He started his international playing career as a 14-year-old at the U16 Euros in 2010. And he's been working his way up the prospect lists since then. Last summer, Vezenkov averaged 22.4 points and 10.2 rebounds at the U18 European Championship. The 2.06m power forward committed to go to Xavier University in the U.S. but then backed out and remained with his Greek club Aris.

Vezenkov showed this past season that he belongs by averaging 11.1 points and 5.8 rebounds - playing the whole season as an 18-year-old. He displayed a great inside-outside game, shooting nearly 39 percent from three-point range and picking up two double-doubles as well as a 23-point and 7-rebound showing against Apollon Patras. And he averaged 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in five games against Greek powers Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. 

Eleftherios Bochoridis, SG, Greece 

Vezenkov's teammate at Aris is Eleftherios Bochoridis - the clear leader of the home Greek team. Bochoridis will have a chance to showcase himself even more than usual at the U20s since Giannis Antetokounmpo pulled out of the tournament.

The lefty combo guard hasn't disappointed, averaging 20.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in Crete - though he has committed 11 turnovers in two games. The Thessaloniki native helped Greece to a fifth place finish at the U20 Euros last summer, averaging 12.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists as an underclass player.

Bochoridis has drawn comparisons to Greek legend Dimitrios Diamantidis and came on more and more at the end of the season for Aris. For the year, he averaged 7.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in about 22 minutes. But in his last five games, he collected 15 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists in just under 30 minutes per game.

As the Greek senior national team looks on to the future, Bochoridis could play a role in the near future. 

Cedi Osman, SG, Turkey

Cedi Osman is one of the brightest young prospects in Turkish basketball and he's already made strides in becoming a leader while playing with older players. The 19-year-old is an underclass player in Crete and is averaging 9.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists through two games.

Osman had a strong 2013-14 for Anadolu Efes Istanbul's senior team, playing most of the year as an 18-year-old. He averaged 5.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.0 steals in the Turkish TBL league - including an impressive 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists against Turk Telekom. The Ohrid, MKD native also played in 12 Euroleague games with 4.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist. His top showing came against Fenerbahce Ulker as he had nine points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal.

The U20s will give him a chance to take more responsibility - also while playing with and against older competition.

Sebastian Saiz, C, Spain

Sebastian Saiz has taken the road less travelled for most Spaniards. The center went to the United States to attend high school - something very few Spanish youngsters do. And the 2.06m center spent last season playing regularly as a freshman in the talent-laden SEC conference - which includes Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Missouri, Florida and more great teams.

Saiz's top game was a 20-point, nine-rebound showing against LSU in mid-January. In total, he averaged 5.1 points and 5.6 rebounds, getting double-digit points three times and double-digit rebounds five times. He also had 0.8 blocks and 0.7 steals.That is a quite solid season for a freshman foreigner - even if he played high school in the States. And Saiz will only get better.

It will be interesting to see how the Madrid native can take what he's learned from the über-aggressive and athletic SEC and college basketball and implement that into his game for Spain. In Crete, he has averaged 7.0 points and 4.5 rebounds through two games.

Jan Grzelinski, PG, Poland

Some might be wondering why I included a point guard from Poland, but Jan Grzelinski could actually be a critical player for his senior national team down the road.
The 1.80m playmaker scored 21 points with seven assists and five rebounds and three turnovers against Bulgaria in Poland's opening win. But Grzelinski then was held to two points on 0-for7 shooting with two assists and five turnovers in a loss against Israel.

The Wroclaw native was the MVP of the Polish U20 championship in 2013 and then played a major role for WKK Wroclaw in Poland's second league 1Liga. He averaged 10.3 points, 3.4 assist and 2.0 rebounds for the 1Liga finalists. Grzelinski stepped up his production at the end of the season, scoring in double digits in four of the last six playoff games with 10 assists in another of those post-season games.

Poland's senior team has started to gather some strong talent with the likes of Marcin Gortat, Maciej Lampe, Przemek Karnowski, Mateusz Pontika and Tomasz Gielo among others. But the team lacks a real point guard. And it would be a big help if Grzelinski can grow into the role. One problem is that Grzelinski is not the biggest of players at 1.80m.

David Hein

FIBA

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