The Spanish wings Álvaro Folgueiras and Eddy Pinedo have made history by winning their respective conferences in the NCAA and qualifying for the legendary ‘March Madness’ tournament. This achievement is a testament to their hard work and dedication to the sport.
Álvaro Folgueiras Wins the Horizon League and Qualifies for the NCAA March Madness
Álvaro Folgueiras, who has been dubbed ‘El pulpo Fol’ for his impressive rebounding skills and named ‘Player of the Year’ in the Horizon League, has qualified for the NCAA Final Tournament after winning the Horizon League with Robert Morris. The 19-year-old Malaga native, standing at 2.08m, scored 14 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 blocks in the 89-78 win against Youngstown State in the Horizon League final.
His coach, Andrew Toole, praised Folgueiras, saying, “Álvaro Folgueiras is a beast on the court. He’s as good a passer as he is a scorer. Does he want to shoot or pass? He always makes the right decision.” This was evident when he scored 35 points against Northern Kentucky.
Folgueiras, who was trained at Unicaja’s academy and won a silver medal with Spain at the 2022 Under-17 World Cup, averages 14.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.5 steals in 29.1 minutes per game this season.
Eddy Pinedo Wins the Northeast Conference and Qualifies for the NCAA March Madness
Eddy Pinedo, a 20-year-old Spanish-Peruvian wing, has made history by helping St. Francis University (PA) win the Northeast Conference (NEC) and qualify for the NCAA March Madness tournament for the first time in 34 years.
Pinedo, who won the 2022 Eurobasket U18 with Spain, scored 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 1 block in 21 minutes in the 43-46 win against Central Connecticut in the NEC final.
The 2.02m wing, who started training at UCAM Murcia’s academy before joining CB Torrelodones in 2019 and later moving to the US to play for Sunrise Christian Academy, averages 10.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 28 minutes per game this season.
Eddy Pinedo, the son of a professional basketball player and a professional volleyball player, said, “I think I chose basketball because my father was a professional, just like my mother was in volleyball. Since I was 10, there were teams that wanted to sign my sister and me because we stood out, but my parents decided it wasn’t the right time to make that decision because we still had a lot of growing up to do.”