sa国际传媒官网网页入口

Federico Grani, a 6-foot-9 forward from Italy, signed last month to play for the 2026-27 Lobos basketball team.

The 23-year-old played professionally this past season for Moncada Energy Agrigento in the Italian Serie B league, averaging 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 37 games and was the 12th of 12 players (to date) who have signed to play for Eric Olen's squad this season.

The Journal reached out to Grani recently to ask a few introductory questions. The following are his answers via a text exchange.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: What about coach Eric Olen's system made you want to play for the UNM Lobos?

GRANI: Already on the first time watching coach鈥檚 system I immediately knew I would love to play. I really like the dynamism and pace of the offense, also the different type of pick-n-roll and pick-n-pop continuity situations. I have to say that I'm really looking forward to playing this kind of basketball together with the other guys.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: Any nicknames or do you have a preference on what fans should call you?

GRANI: As of right now, not really and I honestly don't know what I would like to be called. I鈥檒l let the fans come up with one.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: I'm told you started to taking basketball very seriously in the past two years. Was there something that changed your mindset about playing basketball at such a high level?

GRANI: Yeah, the last few years I started being more confident and self conscious about my abilities. In this process, my agent Max Iacopini helped me a lot. He鈥檚 from my same city and we often go out for a cappuccino in the mornings to talk and he鈥檚 the one that helped me the most in this.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: Were there any other sports you played growing up or still enjoy other than basketball?

GRANI: Growing up there was one year, I think when I was 10, where I played volleyball for the whole year. Other than that I鈥檝e played basketball since I was 8. Although I have to say I鈥檓 a good table tennis player since I have one at home where I often play.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: Have you ever been to the United States? Did you know anything about sa国际传媒官网网页入口, New Mexico, or the UNM Lobos before you were being recruited?

GRANI: I鈥檝e never been to the States, but I really can鈥檛 wait to be there. I know of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 because I鈥檓 a huge fan of "Breaking Bad," so yeah this hyped me up even more. Regarding UNM I had only heard of it before but when I started looking into it I really liked what I saw.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: Do you know what a Lobo is?

GRANI: I assume it鈥檚 a wolf because its the team's symbol, but other than that I had never heard of it before.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: What type of player are fans going to see on the court? Is there a professional player you are similar to or one you try to play like?

GRANI: The type of player I aspire to be and whose game I admire is Evan Mobley, a very mobile and defensive power forward/center that can act also as a rim protector. Offensively very versatile, can penetrate to kick or finish, take spot up shots and good off-ball movement, not necessarily needing the ball in the hands.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: Aside from the obvious financial part, why have so many European professional-level players like yourself decided to pursue basketball in the United States in the past few years? Is playing college in the U.S. more beneficial to your basketball career than staying in Europe at this age?

GRANI: I believe the main reasons are two. The first one is that compared to Europe, in the States, basketball is seen under a completely different light. It's the main sport and it's way more followed. In Europe, if you鈥檙e not somehow in the basketball world, like if neither you play basketball nor someone you know plays it, you probably don't know anything about basketball. The second reason is the infrastructures. Very few places, at least in Italy, can compare to the infrastructures that universities offer.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: Do you know what you are planning to study at UNM? Do you know what you want to do after your playing career is over?

GRANI: At UNM I鈥檓 gonna study construction management since my father is a civil engineer so I think I鈥檓 gonna do something in that direction, although I'm not too sure what as of now.

鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�&苍产蝉辫;鈥�

JOURNAL: I'm seeing three different hairstyles on your Instagram over the past year or so. How do you describe your hairstyle? And even though you don't know all your teammates yet, do you think you''ll have the best hair on the team?

GRANI: Yeah I鈥檝e changed a few in the last years but now I鈥檓 gonna rock with a mullet for a while. After I鈥檝e been to the barber there are very few who can compare. I'm waiting to see what the guys can offer.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .