Veteran centre Ivan Demcesen has extended his stay at Hibernians for the next two years, the club has confirmed. Demcesen has, since joining the Paolite club, become a mainstay for the team and this extension will surely be a relief for new coach Christos Kousidis, who was confirmed on Tuesday.
The 7’1 centre was at his best last season despite the team falling at the final hurdle in the BOV Division One and will be looking to replicate his form as Hibs seek to level up and fight for the postseason during this coming campaign.
Last season, Hibs leveraged the newly introduced regulation whereby foreigners who have been living in Malta for over three years would be classified as locals on the court. This meant that Demcesen was no longer restricted to sharing his minutes with the rest of the import players. This worked wonders as the Serbian averaged 23.3 points a game in the league, going up to 24 in the KnockOut and 29 per game in the John Tabone Shield.
Naturally, at such height, grabbing boards is a normality for Demcesen, the Serbian averaging 13.6 rebounds a game across all competitions throughout the last campaign in which he started all but one game from the 24 he played.
In a statement, Hibs president Ronnie Callejja sounded his enthusiasm towards having Demcesen back for yet another two seasons.
“We are very pleased that Ivan Demcesen has decided to extend his stay with us; his contributions to the team have been invaluable,” Callejja said.
Further changes
After securing a new coach, the club has set its sights on a decent squad depth ahead of the new season, with Malta Basketball aware that the club will be announcing a new local addition to their roster.
This, added to ongoing negotiations with a few other players, should be an important push for Hibs to challenge for silverware after a tough run these past few years.