Yago Mateus dos Santos (born March 9, 1999), known simply as Yago, is a Brazilian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Serbian KLS, the ABA League and the EuroLeague. Dos Santos was discovered by Palmeiras, and played for Paulistano from 2016 to 2020 and Flamengo from 2020 to 2022 before moving to German club Ratiopharm Ulm. He has also played for the Chicago Bulls in the 2023 NBA Summer League team. Yago won the 2023 German BBL championship with Ulm, while being named Finals MVP as well.

Yago dos Santos
dos Santos in 2023
No. 99 – Crvena zvezda
PositionPoint guard
LeagueKLS
ABA League
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1999-03-09) March 9, 1999 (age 25)
Tupã, São Paulo, Brazil
Listed height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Listed weight80 kg (176 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016–2020Paulistano
2020–2022Flamengo
2022–2023Ratiopharm Ulm
2023–presentCrvena zvezda
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Brazil
FIBA AmeriCup
Silver medal – second place 2022 Brazil

ESPN and ESporte called him one of the greatest revelations of Brazilian basketball of the 2010s.[1][2]

Professional career

edit

From 2020 to 2022, Yago played two seasons with Flamengo, with whom he won the 2022 FIBA Intercontinental Cup, as well as two NBB championships.

On July 20, 2022, Yago signed a two-year contract with German club Ratiopharm Ulm of the German Basketball Bundesliga.[3] He was instrumental in helping Ulm win its first ever German championship in 2023 and received Bundesliga Finals MVP honours.[4] Appearing in 45 Bundesliga games (45 starts) during the 2022-23 campaign, he averaged a team-high 15.0 points per contest to go along with 5.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds a game.[5]

On July 17, 2023, Yago signed a three-year contract with Serbian powerhouse KK Crvena zvezda.[6] In the same season, main rivals KK Partizan also signed Brazilian Bruno Caboclo, making the Serbian derby also a derby between two of Brazil's best players. On June 28, 2024, Yago extended his contract with the Serbian club through 2027.[7]

National team career

edit

During the 2023 FIBA World Cup, he recorded a double-double (24 points, 11 assists, 6-6 from three point range) against Ivory Coast, which earned him worldwide praise.[8]

Career statistics

edit
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

EuroLeague

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2023–24 Crvena zvezda 28 16 19.8 .435 .402 .807 2.0 3.9 .5 8.7 9.1
Career 28 16 19.8 .435 .402 .807 2.0 3.9 .5 8.7 9.1

EuroCup

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2022–23 ratiopharm Ulm 20 20 26.1 .427 .391 .887 3.0 6.1 .7 .1 13.0 17.6
Career 20 20 26.1 .427 .391 .887 3.0 6.1 .7 .1 13.0 17.6

Basketball Champions League Americas

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Flamengo 1 0 15.7 .500 .000 .833 3.0 1.0 7.0
2020–21 6 4 22.6 .340 .256 .800 2.2 6.0 .7 9.0
2021–22 7 5 22.8 .475 .500 .762 3.3 5.3 1.1 13.7
Career 14 9 22.1 .414 .381 .784 2.8 5.3 .9 11.2

FIBA Americas League

edit
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Paulistano 3 0 15.9 .450 .444 .667 3.0 2.0 .3 8.7
2018–19 8 8 25.4 .411 .457 .852 4.1 5.7 1.2 17.6
Career 11 8 22.7 .419 .455 .818 3.8 4.7 1.0 11.8

Domestic leagues

edit
Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17   Paulistano NBB 30 11.1 .350 .361 .803 .9 1.7 .4 6.3
2017–18   Paulistano NBB 39 15.7 .415 .341 .800 2.1 3.0 .5 8.6
2018–19   Paulistano NBB 26 27.4 .429 .370 .862 3.6 4.8 .8 13.2
2019–20   Paulistano NBB 25 31.8 .404 .368 .841 3.0 5.4 1.0 .0 16.0
2020–21   Flamengo NBB 37 25.6 .444 .368 .842 3.0 5.9 .9 .0 11.5
2021–22   Flamengo NBB 41 27.5 .427 .366 .823 3.9 5.8 .9 .1 12.8
2022–23   ratiopharm Ulm BBL 45 26.5 .427 .383 .815 3.5 5.6 .7 .0 15.0
2023–24   Crvena zvezda KLS 3 25.5 .704 .684 1.000 2.7 7.0 .3 19.7
2023–24   Crvena zvezda ABA 31 21.7 .464 .385 .859 2.5 4.3 .5 .0 10.7

References

edit
  1. ^ "Palmeiras descobriu e lapidou promessa do NBB, mas fechou time; hoje, 'baixinho' encanta em finalista". ESPN Brasil. espn.uol.com.br. May 27, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  2. ^ "Finalista do NBB, prodígio foi treinado por técnico ligado aos Warriors". Esporte UOL. esporte.uol.com.br. May 27, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "Frischgebackener MVP auf dem Weg nach Ulm". Ratiopharm Ulm (in German). Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "Ulm conclude miraculous German playoff run by winning first-ever championship title". basketnews.com. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  5. ^ "Ratiopharm Ulm". Basketball-Bundesliga. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  6. ^ "Brazilian international Yago dos Santos pens a 3-year contract with Crvena zvezda Meridianbet". aba-liga.com. July 17, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  7. ^ Gillingham, Geoff (July 28, 2024). "Yago Dos Santos pens contract extension at Crvena Zvezda". EuroLeague. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  8. ^ Filardi, Eric (August 30, 2023). "Yago Santos na Copa do Mundo 2023: mídia mundial se derrete". www.esportelandia.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved August 31, 2023.
edit