LEGNANO – I Legnano Knights still registered SAE Scientific they make the team for next year starting from the outside players. A confirmation (Nik Raivio) and two purchases (Francesco Oboe And Guglielmo Sodero) to give great solidity to the starting external department. The skeleton is done, now it’s up to the rest of the formation.
Francesco Oboe
Playmaker born in 2000, Francesco Oboe was an opponent of the Knights as a teenager in the 2017/2018 A2 playoffs against Verona and then in the last two seasons with Pavia and Crema. A player who trained first in his home club of Vicenza and then at Scaligera Verona in his last years of youth, he played his first season as a professional at Raggosolaris Faenza in Serie B and then at Il Campetto Ancona. The move up in category is in 2021/2022 when he wears the Basket Torino shirt in A2, before returning to Serie B first in Pavia and last season in Crema. Play with a height of 192 cm which exceeds the average of the same role, he has excellent vision of the game and a great aptitude for rebounding. A complete player who can exploit pick and rolls, but also find a shot one-on-one, he will be the starting point guard for the Knights.
Maurizio Basilico. “We knew that replacing Tommaso Marino would not be easy, but with Francesco Oboe we have certainly taken on a player of great value and with an excellent prospect.
We have already followed him since his days in Pavia where he was coached by our former Mazzetti and in recent seasons we have seen important improvements in leadership on the pitch. We are convinced that we have signed a player who will certainly be the protagonist of the championship and who is the first piece of the new team; it goes without saying that the point guard is a central role in building the team and with Francesco we got off to a great start.”
Guglielmo Sodero
The winger born in 1993 is a well-known face for the Legnano fans: in the 2023/24 season he was an opponent of the red and whites in National B, played with Desio’s shirt where he produced 14.2 points and 2.6 assists; but Sodero has been an opponent of the Knights since their Serie B days: in the 2021/22 season it was his basket with 4″ to go that condemned Legnano to elimination against Bergamo in game 5 of the playoff quarter-final. Highly experienced player with good physical size (191 centimeters and 91 kilos) and technical flexibility; he began his senior career in 2010 in Serie C with Crocetta Don Bosco Torino, before spending the following season in Biella in the DNC. In the following seasons he then played in DNB with the shirts of Francavilla and Cus Torino while in 2014 he moved to Cefalù where in three seasons he played in Serie C and Serie B. For him then experiences in Serie B in Valsesia, San Severo and Piombino, before the call to A2 by Chieti. In the last two seasons he played in Serie B in Bergamo, before moving to Desio for the 2023/2024 season.
Maurizio Basilico: “With Sodero we acquire a dangerous player in attack and a great competitor. We have always appreciated him as a cynical opponent capable of scoring from afar, which in the past has hurt us a lot in some circumstances. With Piazza we believe he is the right piece of the puzzle to fit between Oboe and Raivio to form the starting trio of wingers who can guarantee us physicality, but also points”.
Nik Raivio
The American, now from Legnano, of the Knights, had already embraced the red and white project last summer, strongly wanting to return to the city of the Northern League and signing for two years, with the renunciation of other offers even in higher divisions. Raivio’s loyalty did not go unnoticed by the Knights management who immediately seized the opportunity to welcome the Portland native back into their team. Despite an initial injury and a season that wasn’t particularly brilliant in terms of team results, Raivio still provided some excellent performances crowned by the winning shot against Avellino, the amazing match which ended with 43 points against Caserta and the title of top scorer (18.3 points average ) of group A of the National Serie B and second place overall. Other records of Raivio’s season: the title of best defensive rebound (7.3) in the group (second in the Serie B), the best average rating (23.7, first in the entire Serie B) and the best overall rating (710, first in the entire Serie B series).
Maurizio Basilico: “Nik is a certainty and there were no doubts about him. We started thinking about the new team starting from the best scorer in the group and a person we know well. We are happy that he still has the desire and “hunger” to play with us and for us. As always, it will be a pleasure to see him on the pitch wearing our shirt.”
