Abramo Canka

Abramo Canka (born Abramo Penè; 18 March 2002) is an Italian college basketball player for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He began his college career with one season with the UCLA Bruins, before transferring to Wake Forest.

Early life and youth career
Born in Genoa, Italy, to a Senegalese father and a Kosovo Albanian mother, Canka grew up playing basketball for Tigullio Sport Team Ligure. In 2016, he joined the youth academy of Serie B club Stella Azzurra Roma. In 2018, Canka joined the Roseto Sharks youth program.

In January 2020, Canka played for Stella Azzurra's under-18 team at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Munich, where he helped the team reach the final and was named to the all-tournament team. He averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals in four games.

Professional career
Canka started the 2019–20 season with Stella Azzurra Roma in the third-tier Serie B. He made his first and only appearance on 28 September 2019. He joined the Roseto Sharks in the second-tier Serie A2 in October 2019. On 13 October, he recorded a career-high 25 points, shooting 12-of-15 from the field, along with nine rebounds, five assists and five steals in a 113–112 double-overtime win over JuveCaserta. He averaged 7.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 18 games for Roseto in 2019–20.

On 27 June 2020, Canka signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of the Russian VTB United League. Six days later, he was loaned to Nevėžis Kėdainiai of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). In 17 games in 2020–21, he averaged 7.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

Canka started the 2021–22 season with Nevėžis Kėdainiai and averaged 7.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals in nine games. He returned to Lokomotiv Kuban on 3 December 2021. To finish the 2021–22 season, he played one game for Lokomotiv in the VTB United League and 16 games for Lokomotiv's reserves team in the Russian Basketball Super League 1.

College career
In August 2022, Canka moved to the United States to play college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, whose assistant coach Ivo Simović had strong connections to the international community. As a freshman in 2022–23, Canka played in 22 games and averaged 1.5 points in 5.4 minutes per game. He shot 44% overall and 50% on 3-pointers (5 of 10), but struggled at times defensively, not uncommon for youngsters in coach Mick Cronin's complex defense.

In May 2023, Canka transferred to Wake Forest, who had recruited him before he chose UCLA.

National team career
Canka represented Italy at the 2018 FIBA U16 European Championship in Novi Sad, Serbia. In seven games, he averaged 10.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, two assists and 1.9 steals per game, leading his team to 12th place. He also averaged 9.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in the 2022 FIBA U20 European Championship.