Izan Almansa

Izan Almansa Pérez (born June 7, 2005) is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Perth Wildcats of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).

Early life and youth career
Almansa was born in Murcia, Spain, to Cristina Almansa, a Murcia native, and Steve Horton, an American professional basketball player for CB Murcia. After Horton retired, he returned to the United States. Almansa grew up in Spain playing association football and dreamed of playing it professionally. He did not begin to play basketball until he was nine years old, following a friend who had signed up. Almansa initially joined the UCAM Murcia youth ranks and measured 1.85m by age 12. In his final year with UCAM, he led the Infantil (under-14) squad to a sixth-place finish at the Spanish National Championship – the club's best performance ever at the Infantil level – while averaging 18 points and 18 rebounds per game. In a group stage victory over La Salle Laguna, he recorded 32 points, 28 rebounds, and six steals.

In the summer of 2019, Almansa was recruited by Real Madrid. He went on to play two years with the Real Madrid Cadete (under-16) team. Almansa also played three games with the Real Madrid reserves in the fourth-tier Liga EBA during the 2020–21 season.

Team OTE (2021–2022)
On 5 August 2021, Almansa signed with the Overtime Elite (OTE), a professional basketball league for high school-aged players, ahead of its inaugural season. In the 2021–22 season, he played for Team OTE against the other two OTE teams, as well as prep schools and postgraduate teams. Almansa averaged 6.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point range.

YNG Dreamerz (2022–2023)
Ahead of the 2022–23 OTE season, Almansa was drafted by the YNG Dreamerz, one of six teams in a restructured league. In his second season in the competition, he averaged 9.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, finishing fifth in the league in the latter category. In the final regular-season game, Almansa recorded 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists to clinch the second seed. He helped his team reach the championship series, where they lost to the City Reapers, led by twins Amen and Ausar Thompson.

NBA G League Ignite (2023–2024)
On 30 June 2023, Almansa signed with the NBA G League Ignite.

Perth Wildcats (2024–present)
On 29 June 2024, Almansa signed with the Perth Wildcats of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL), joining the team as part of the league's Next Stars program for the 2024–25 season.

National team career
Almansa was selected to play at the 2021 FIBA U16 European Challengers, though Spain later withdrew from the tournament.

Almansa led the national under-17 team to a silver-medal finish at the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup in Spain, which was their first-ever medal at the event. He averaged 12.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.1 steals per game on 55.7 percent shooting and was named the tournament MVP – the first non-American player to ever win the award. Spain lost in the final to the United States, with Almansa recording nine points, 15 rebounds, two assists and two steals in the 79–67 defeat.

Just a few weeks after the U17 World Cup, Almansa represented the national under-18 team at the 2022 FIBA U18 European Championship in Turkey. He averaged 15.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 25 minutes per game, leading Spain to a gold medal and winning tournament MVP honors once again. He became the first player to ever win tournament MVP awards at both the FIBA U17 World Cup and the FIBA U18 European Championship.