Starlites captain Alec Felice Pace is set to become the next Maltese abroad after putting pen to paper on a deal with German Regionalliga 1 West side Citybasket Recklinghausen in the coming days.
The Malta international guard who has been one of the biggest names in Maltese basketball these past few years, will now be trying his luck overseas in Germany’s fourth tier on a professional contract. Sources close to negotiations have told Malta Basketball that the 26-year-old should be flying out to complete his move next week.
Felice Pace takes with him the momentum of having lifted four domestic trophies last season. Throughout the campaign in which he played 22 games, he averaged 16.2 points a game across all local competitions as Starlites completed a historic quadruple under coach Paul Ferrante.
The speedy guard who is a nightmare for the opposition on fastbreaks was also a leading assist-maker for Starlites, averaging 5.2 per game. On defence, he grabbed 8.9 rebounds while stealing the ball twice per game.
Now he heads to a Recklinghausen side which will be hoping for better fortune this coming season after a troubled campaign in the league, finishing in the penultimate spot of the standings with an 8-16 record.
Sticking with the white kit as was the case at Starlites, Felice Pace will be aiming to provide enough value to convince coach Dhnesch Kubendrarajah as he now competes for a position in the starting five with current point guard Niklas Meesmann who was last season’s most utilised player on the roster.
This move spells further transfer planning for Starlites coach Ferrante ahead of the club’s journey into FIBA Europe Cup qualifying, with fellow guard Matt Attard also leaving the club earlier this month. While both club and player would have preferred the move happening after the qualifiers, club sources emphasised that Starlites would in no way hinder such an opportunity for its players.