The name Pietrus is well known in French basketball, especially in Alsatian basketball. No need to introduce you to Florent Pietrus, player with 230 selections for the France team and who also has a great season and a half to his credit at SIG Strasbourg. But here it is the succession that we are going to talk about. The relief Pietrus!
The 2021/2022 season will be that of consecration for Illan Pietrus. Young 16-year-old player, the son of Florent Pietrus is making more and more impression this season with games over 40pts, his name at the top of the LNB Espoirs prospects ranking. And also with his first steps with the pro team, alongside DeAndre Lansdowne and Gaylor Curier during the 8th of the final of the Coupe de France, on these subjects, Illan confides: “ I’m proud, it’s an honor for me to play and train with the professionals. There is a good atmosphere, they push me and help me. I gain experience playing and training with them. When we were at ASVEL I didn’t expect to come into play, it was the Coach who looked at me and said “Illan! “. The stress mounted, but entering the field it quickly dissipated. It was a basketball game and I played my game. The pros give me a lot of advice whether it’s in training or during games, they are behind me and push me. I take a lot of experience with them, I learn to play a notch above. »
Coach Tuovi comments on his integration into the group: “He is a young player who has a lot of potential, very talented. He loves basketball and he lives his sport. Illan does good training and good things every day. We have a good prospect in our hands and great potential for French basketball. But we have to give him time and let him work, he’s still a young player. And we’re here to help it reach its highest potential. »
Illan is not unknown in the basketball world. At only 2 years old, the young boy was already touching the orange ball. With a professional player dad, basketball came as a matter of course in his life: “ I started basketball at the age of 2 and a half during the season when my father was playing in Valencia in Spain. I arrived in France in 2013 in Nancy where I did my chick and minimal years with SLUC Nancy after that I went to the Espoirs pole in Metz. And it was after 2 years at the Pole that I arrived in 2019 at the SIG Strasbourg training center. The last two summers, I played in the France team. I also did the Eurochallenge where we finished first and where we qualified for the world cup this summer. »
“You have to stay humble and work a lot”
A player with his head on his shoulders and who aims to follow in his father’s footsteps and his advice: ” It was my dream to follow my father’s career. Small I was going to see his matches, I was at the edge of the field. When he left a club, we followed him with my mother and when I watched him play, I wanted to do like him: to have a great career. My parents follow my path a lot! My father helps me a lot, he supports me and advises me on basketball because he had a great career. It helps me a lot that my father knows so much and can guide me in the world of basketball. He is proud and he often repeats it to me. What he tells me most often is to “Stay humble and work hard”. You don’t have to take the big head when you succeed, you have to stay yourself. And above all, keep working. Nothing is guaranteed, you have to go to the gym, shoot, play and keep working. Even if the fatigue is there, you still have to do a little. But above all, you have to be yourself. »
