Brescia Wants to Shop in Trieste: It’s Not Just Uthoff
Matteo Cotelli, the young head coach of Pallacanestro Brescia, is working to build a team that will carry on the legacy of the squad that gave the Lombardy-based club two extraordinary seasons. The first player signed is John Brown III, who, despite being 34 years old, represents a significant financial investment: it wasn’t easy to outbid offers from Japan.
The arrival of the American, a returning player, must, however, be viewed as part of a technical plan that is expected to continue revolving around the duo of Amedeo Della Valle and Miro Bilan, two players who are fundamental to the team’s offensive performance but who inevitably also influence the choices regarding which teammates to pair with them on the court.
One of the main tactical needs that Cotelli intends to address is the need for an athletic and mobile center, capable of lightening Bilan’s workload and providing a credible alternative in the opponent’s paint. This is a gap that Brescia has never truly filled in recent seasons, often having to resort to improvising with Burnell, Ndour, or Mobio depending on the situation. Brown III, born in 1992 and originally from Florida, fits this profile at least in part: throughout his career, he has been particularly valued for his defensive skills, which have allowed him to carve out a niche at the highest levels of European basketball. Between 2022 and 2024, he played for Monaco before moving to Red Star Belgrade, where he made a valuable contribution to the team’s EuroLeague Play-In run, averaging over five points and three rebounds in the Adriatic League, prior to his most recent stints in Australia and Puerto Rico.
On the departures front, the Biancoblù roster has already seen one significant departure: Jason Burnell has officially left Germani Brescia at the end of his three-year stint with the team, capped by the historic Scudetto final reached in the 2024–2025 season. “Pallacanestro Brescia bids farewell to and thanks Jason Burnell for the three wonderful seasons we spent together,” reads the club’s official statement, which emphasized that their time together allowed the forward, born in 1997, to “achieve, so far, the peak of his career.” The American’s future is already set: Burnell will don the jersey of a EuroLeague club, with Olimpia Milano in pole position to secure his services.
The white-and-blue management is also keeping a close eye on Trieste, a team whose future remains somewhat uncertain. Among the players being monitored are two power forwards: American Jarrod Uthoff and Australian Josh Bannan, both considered promising options to bolster the Brescia team’s frontcourt.
