Hayden Dalton is the newest Dragon

KK Cedevita Olimpija has started strengthening its team for the new 2021/22 competition season. The new Dragon has become the American player Hayden Dalton, who signed a one-year deal with the possibility of extension for another season.

The current Slovenian national champion, Cedevita Olimpija, has started assembling a team for the new 2021/22 competition season. The Ljubljana club jersey will be worn by Hayden Dalton, an American forward who has been part of the Czech Nymburk in the past two seasons. Dalton thus became the first reinforcement of Cedevita Olimpija this summer.

In the 2020/21 season, Dalton played in 13 games in the Champions League, and averaged 26.5 minutes on the floor. He scored 11.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, adding 2.3 assists per game. In nine games, he exceeded the limit of ten points scored, and twice he managed to collect a double-digit number of rebounds.

He played in 40 games in the Czech national championship, the most among all Nymburk basketball players. He spent 21.3 minutes per game on the floor, scoring 10.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. Dalton helped Nymburk to two consecutive Czech national championship titles.

Dalton honed his basketball skills at the University of Wyoming, for which he played three seasons in the NCAA University League. In his last, 2017/18, he averaged 17.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Dalton first introduced himself to the European basketball public in the 2018/19 season when he wore the Danish Bakken Bears jersey.

Hayden Dalton
Date and place of birth: June 20 1996; Parker, Colorado (USA)
Height: 203 cm
Playing position: Forward / Power Forward
Career: Bakken Bears (Denmark; 2018-19), Nymburk (Czech Republic; 2019-21), Cedevita Olimpija (2021).

Sani Bečirović, sports director of Cedevita Olimpija:
“We started putting together a team for the new season. As last summer, this summer our first reinforcement is coming from the United States. Hayden Dalton is a forward who has spent the last two seasons in a Nymburk. The fact that he was twice a key member of the team that won the title of Czech national champion says a lot about our new basketball player, who also gained experience in the Champions League. At the same time, Dalton worked for two seasons under the wing of the head coach of the Slovenian national team, Aleksander Sekulić, who had words of praise for Dalton, so I think he will quickly integrate into the new environment.”

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“We are very happy, we signed a contract with Hayden Dalton, a young basketball player who already has experience playing in Europe. He is a player who definitely fits our system and I believe he will fit into our team. Dalton is young and plays with a lot of intensity, but at the same time he has a lot of room to progress, and also a desire to progress. He comes from Nymburk, a regulated environment, a club that plays a big role in the Basketball Champions League. For Dalton, joining Cedevita Olimpija is definitely a step forward in his career. I am sure he will help us on the way to meeting our goals.”

Hayden Dalton, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“I’m very thankful and excited to be joining Cedevita Olimpija, a team from Slovenia. It’s a good level up for me, in my career, so I’m very excited to joing the team for the next season, and get to work, and trying to win as many championships as we can. I couldn’t be more excited on joining a high level and respected European club.”