This story first appeared on athletics.stvincent.edu.
LATROBE, PA — Julien Vonovier, a junior majoring in sports management with a minor in data analytics at Saint Vincent College, put his classroom lessons to work this past summer as an assistant coach for Switzerland’s U16 basketball national team.
Switzerland finished third in Division B of the International Basketball Federation U16 European Championship (FIBA EuroBasket) in Skopje, North Macedonia. Switzerland beat Belgium, 80-75, on Aug 17 to notch its best-ever finish in a FIBA EuroBasket tournament and its first promotion to Division A.
“It was amazing,” said Vonovier, 22, a native of Pully, Switzerland. “Beating Belgium was a big surprise because they have a lot of big-time players. People were like, ‘What is this? This is not the usual Switzerland.’ So, it was great.”
After the tournament, Vonovier celebrated Switzerland’s third-place finish with a post on his LinkedIn page. Véronique Hulmann, the Swiss ambassador to North Macedonia, replied: “Congratulations …