While the playoffs punctuate the spring, meeting with Sevag Keucheyan (46 years old). The Geneva native, a former Swiss international, has become the country’s most influential agent and sees a bright future for Swiss basketball.
As a player, he put his abilities at the service of the collective, he was the leader responsible for bringing a team together. Twenty years later, Sevag Keucheyan is responsible for establishing the link between actors, coaches and clubs. Impossible to have attended a basketball game without seeing him around! The former Geneva Devils distributor has not only become the most highly rated agent in Switzerland, but also a big name in Europe. This is evidenced by the requests he receives, the messages and calls flooding into his phone.
This daily life, the person concerned wanted it, even dreamed of it. “I always wanted to be able to stay in basketball, he explains. But I especially didn’t want to become a coach, because I wouldn’t have wanted to have to manage guys like me (laughs)! I was studying basketball. business economics and, as I had always been passionate about recruitment, scouting, as I already watched tons of videos and as I already had my own database as a player, I turned towards this profession agent.”
I always wished I could stay in basketball, but I definitely didn’t want to become a coach, because I wouldn’t have wanted to have to manage guys like me…
Sevag Keucheyan, former Swiss international, now players’ agent.
However, this is not an easy path to take in Switzerland. But Sevag Keucheyan, whose first clients were called Cédric Mafuta or Mikael Maruotto, knew how to make his mark. Especially because he remained true to himself. “He is someone reliable and honest,” notes Imad Fattal, former president of the Geneva Lions, who was the agent’s teammate in 2004/2005. In 12 years at the head of the club, I I have never had a problem with Sevag, because he is an efficient and intelligent intermediary, who seeks to find solutions, not to create problems…”
Good fortune – or is it flair? – also escorted the agent of Armenian origin. “I had spotted Arizona Reid, but he had not signed with me then,” he explains. In the process, the American had obtained a contract in Italy but was injured upon arriving there. Once affected, he had no longer heard from his agent. So he called me. I told him to come to Geneva to (re)launch. This is how my career took off…”
Sevag is someone reliable and honest, who seeks to find solutions, not create problems.
Imad Fattal, former president of the Geneva Lions
Since then, the manager has been everywhere. Some people complain about seeing it here and there. Others, on the contrary, praise his eye and his ability to suggest the right ideas. His interpersonal skills, too. In Switzerland, he cannot show any preference, as he has players in all the clubs. “I’m sometimes told that I help one team more than another, but that’s not true, the former leader defends. Only yes, I propose players according to the wishes of the sports directors and coaches , while juggling the budgetary envelopes of the clubs So obviously I cannot offer the same thing to everyone…” He knows that he cannot achieve unanimous support. “However, I hope to give the image of a true enthusiast, who works a lot and knows the market perfectly,” he adds.
I need relationships, need contacts. Players are not numbers.
Sevag Keucheyan, former Swiss international, now players’ agent.
In this competitive environment, Sevag Keucheyan admits to prioritizing people. “I need this relationship, need contacts. The players are not numbers.” And behind the cliché of the agent who counts the money lies some great stories. The one that links him to Chris Jones (Valencia) is to be put at the top of the list.. “I spotted him in 2016, when he was 23, and I brought him to Basel, remembers the ex-Swiss international. He then earned around 1,500 Swiss francs per month. Today, he is one of the best players in the EuroLeague and is a multi-millionaire. Our relationship goes beyond that of agent-player.
After almost 20 years in this role of matchmaker, Sevag Keucheyan never tires. “So yes, I am connected 24 hours a day, and it is sometimes hard for those around me, but my wife and my two children are extraordinary,” he says. “The fact is that I am driven by the same passion as at the beginning and I love what I do. I take the same pleasure in going to see an elite match as a 25th League match (laughs). lose this passion and it will get complicated for them I fear that it will happen to me one day But at the moment that is not the case at all.
Arnaud Cerutti
2024-04-23 06:16:52
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