Liga U
The Liga U will be the Spanish youth basketball league for players under the age of 22 that will be managed jointly by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto and the Spanish Basketball Federation.
This league was created with the aim to provide opportunities for young players who struggle to play regular time in the Liga ACB due to its high competitive level, while also will allow them to continue their academic training as will be closely linked to higher education. It emerges in response to the economic growth in college basketball in the NCAA due to the NIL rights.
It will be supported by the Spanish Sports Council and the Ministry [of Education (Spain)|Ministry of Education] which will fund the tournament with a huge public investment of 15 million euros during its first three seasons in a 5 million euros per season.
History
Background
Through decades, exploring a college career in the United States has been a consistent option for young basketball players who were not entirely sure to get a future in the European professional leagues. Taking advantage of their strengths on the court was an excellent way to farm an academic future in the land of the opportunities, consolidate the universal language par excellence, and, at the same time, continue to progress in the sport–a combination that is extremely difficult to achieve in Spain. With a scholarship, having a fully paid schooling was an irresistible opportunity to secure a long-term future while the short and medium-term prospects, with the ball in their hands, were uncertain. However, given the historically amateur nature of the NCAA, it was practically a ruled out option, except in rare cases, for truly outstanding talents, those capable of generating a level of income from a very young age that would make academic development a secondary priority.In the last years, the leak of talent from Europe's top youth teams to foreign countries was a phenomenon that has only just begun. The emergence of professional compensation in the NCAA, through the NIL program shattered the status quo which left traditional clubs and youth teams defenseless. Spanish powerhouses like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona considered the option to eliminate their youth teams after this drain.