Cibona brings in new reinforcement. The American has a very successful university career behind him: He brings more

Cibona signed a contract with the American guard Khalifa Battle, who will be part of the Vukov team in the new season, it was announced on Monday on the official website of the Zagreb club.

Battle is a 26-year-old guard with a height of 196 centimeters, who comes to Cibona after his first professional season spent at the Italian club Dolomiti Energia Trento. He played in the Italian Serie A and EuroCup, and in the domestic championship he averaged 12.9 points with 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists.

Before coming to Europe, he had a remarkable college career during which he played for Butler, Temple, Arkansas and Gonzaga. In the 2022/23 season He was Temple’s leading scorer with 17.9 points per game, while the following year he scored 14.8 points in the Arkansas jersey. He played his last NCAA season for Gonzaga, with which he won the West Coast Conference tournament and earned an appearance in the final NCAA tournament. For Gonzaga, he averaged 13.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists, with 93.2 percent success from the free throw line.

Photo: Gerald Oelze-de Stoppany

After completing his college career, he also played in the NBA Summer League for the Phoenix Suns, where he recorded 21 points, five assists and four rebounds in a match against the Portland Trail Blazers.

“Khalif is a young and modern player who has a very good athletic component and versatility, i.e. the ability to cover multiple outside positions. Last season he played his rookie year in Italy, making the first step in adapting to European basketball, and we believe that in our jersey he can go a step further and bring a new dimension to our game”, said Cibona coach Ivan Rudez.

He primarily plays as a shooting guard. He will stand out with his ability to create his own shot, attack the rim and play in transition, and he can also take over part of the organization of the attack. With a combination of energy, speed and play on both sides of the court, he should bring additional width to Cibona’s outside line.