The Israel Under-20 National Team will begin its journey at the European Championship in Crete, Greece on Saturday afternoon 3:30pm against Spain in Group A action. Coach Sharon Avrahami’s squad arrives at the Greek island with Purdue’s Omer Mayer who was the star of the Under-19 team at the World Championship, but under the radar, heading into the tourney is big man Alon MIchaeli. The Bnei Herzliya center will be looking forward to playing with Mayer who will no doubt supply him with balls in the paint where he will be able to make a huge impact for the young blue-and-white.

Michaeli played with the Under-20 team last summer and scored 13.3 points, and grabbed 13.4 rebounds while he last teamed up with Mayer at the 2023 Under-18 European Championship.

Just before the championship tips off, Michaeli spoke to The Sports Rabbi about a myriad of topics as he readies to help lead Israel back to the top of the competition.

“There’s a ton of excitement,” Michaeli began. “We’re so excited and are looking forward to the first game. This is my last youth championship so I’m a little bit sad about that as I really enjoy coming to the national team camp every summer after the season and seeing all the guys. It’s always the same group and we are all friends, so it’s always fun to be here in the summer. It’s too bad that this is the last time, but we’ll try to finish this off on a high note and one that will be unforgettable.”
 
The 19-year old Michaeli was impressed with the recent success of the Israel Under-19 team, which finished in seventh place at the World Championship, “It really motivated all of us. They had an amazing tournament and it whetted our appetite, too. When we were training we saw them here as well and one day we all stayed to watch them after our own practice. It really whetted everyone’s appetite and we can’t wait to begin our championship too.”
 
The current Under-20 team is stacked with talent and it’s impossible to ignore the historic European Championships of 2018 and 2019 where Deni Avdija led the squad to the title, “First of all, we’re aiming finish as best as possible,” Michaeli said. “We’re focussing on first game against Spain and then we will look at the second one as we are going game by game. There’s still a long way to go and we’re coming to win every game.”
 
Michaeli, who stands at 2.03 meters is not your typical big man as he is very mobile and has soft hands, “I feel like I can contribute and in the last two European Championships I played in, I felt relatively good, so I feel like I have something to give here. I’m looking forward to it as I want to do as much as I can and do the best I can for the team to succeed.”

This will mark the third time that Michaeli will team up with Mayer as they played together at the Under-16 European Championship in 2021 and then with the Under-18’s in 2023, “It’s a lot of fun to play with Omer who is first and foremost a good friend but he’s also an amazing player of course and everyone loves him here. He’s just a guy who’s fun to be with both in the lockerroom and on the court, so it’s great to reunite with him once again.”
 
Michaeli feels comfortable playing under Avrahami as the blue-and-white finished in 6th place last year, “Sharon is an amazing coach and he gives the players confidence and support. I feel very comfortable and look forward to playing with his team yet again.”

 
Having grown up in the Kfar Saba youth department, Michaeli began playing basketball at the tender age of five, “I was in first grade or kindergarten, I don’t remember exactly which year but like every kid who plays basketball in Kfar Saba, they all just love the game. I really enjoyed playing already from such a young age and from there my skills began to develop.”

Alon Michaeli is following in the footsteps of his older brother, Yuval who also plays professionally with Maccabi Ashdod who earned promotion from the third division to the second, also has played for the Israel youth teams as well as in the Leumit League.

“It’s really great, he was my role model,” Alon Michaeli said. “My brother and I are very close, way beyond the sport of basketball and that really helped me a lot, especially at a young age as I had an older brother at home whom I could look up to. He often gave me tips and helped me out.”

At the beginning of the 2022/23 season, the 16-year old Michaeli made his debut in the Israel Premier League against Hapoel Jerusalem as he spoke about what it was like to be such a youngster playing in the country’s top league, “It was amazing. I was in the 11th grade and playing with the youth team at the time. I believe that this was really something that helped me a tremendous amount, having the opportunity to train with the senior professional team. At the end of the day as a kid you have the chance to train with some very good players who are already 30 years old or so and who are much more experienced and mature, it’s invaluable. I was able to go toe-to-toe with with the physicality of older professionals at a very young age and that helped me a lot.”
 
In the 2023/24 season, Michaeli, along with Ilay Dolinski were key contributors to Elitzur Netanya who were also promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season, “Playing in Netanya was a lot of fun and we ended our time there on a high note which was a great feeling. I was very happy that we were promoted and it was just a very happy moment. In fact it was one of the happiest moments I can remember in basketball for me personally.”

This past year, Michaeli received significant minutes with Herzliya and was in Head Coach Yehu Orland’s starting lineup ten times but did not see the floor in their best-of-5 quarterfinal series with Hapoel Holo as well as in the State Cup semi-finals against Hapoel Jerusalem.

“Obviously, as a basketball player, you always strive to play as much as possible,” Michaeli responded. “But I think that at my age as I’m only 19 years old, it’s also very important to look beyond the actual playing time. That you’re in the top league, you’re really developing, that you’re training at a high level, working hard and really feeling like you’re progressing personally and becoming a better player. So even if there were some difficult moments on the court, when things weren’t going as well as I would have liked, I always felt like I was making a lot of progress and continuing to developing. So in that regard, when I look back at the season I am satisfied because I feel like I’ve improved a lot.”
 
During the summer, there were rumors that Michaeli was looking to head to the United States and try his luck at college basketball which has been a huge trend in Israel and across Europe. But so far there have been no reports of a specific college that is to his liking and it’s not yet clear where he will play next season, however, for now he is still a Herzliya player which will also be playing in the Basketball Champions League.

“I’m currently under contract with Bnei Herzliya for two more years and I really haven’t been involved in anything right now. My sole focus and is on the championship, that’s where my mind is. Only in the championship that starts on Saturday.”

Michaeli can play both the power forward and center positions which is where he also sees his future, “I want to develop as a power forward that can also play at center. I think I have a lot of things that I’m good at overall and I really need to improve a lot of things. As always, there’s a lot to improve on and I’ll work as hard as I can to improve on those things.”

In 2021 Michaeli teamed up with Ben Saraf, who was recently selected 26th overall in the NBA draft by the Brooklyn Nets, “Wow, it’s honestly amazing. I got to play with him on that Under-16 team when he was a year younger than all of us and just had an amazing tournament. It’s fun to watch him and he’s my friend so I’m very happy for him.”

Michaeli is still stunned to be able to play in the Premier League which to him is just one step closer to reaching his dreams, “It was very strange for me to suddenly be playing against the big teams. I was excited about it, because really, years ago I would just watch these teams on TV. I was excited to play against these teams and now that I’m here, I hope to reach my next goal of playing on the senior Israel National Team.”