With the Elian Benitez – Alexandre Bouzidi duo, JA Vichy hands over the reins to its young guard
Tomorrow is already today in Bourbonnais. Less than 24 hours after finishing the 2024-2025 season as Pro B playoff semifinalists against Alliance Sport Alsace, JA Vichy is already gearing up for battle. According to BasketEurope, the Vichy club is preparing to sign Élian Benitez (1.83m, 22 years old) and Alexandre Bouzidi (1.97m, 21 years old). The two young Frenchmen will join the Auvergne team for next season.
Élian Benitez looks to take flight again at Vichy after a quiet season in Nantes
Coming from Nantes, the first already knows the second tier of Betclic Elite. Averaging 5 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists for a 5.7 evaluation in 15 minutes during his Pro B debut, the product of USA Toulouges and JL Bourg (top scorer in the Espoirs Elite championship averaging 21.8 points in 2022-2023) got a feel for the division with Nantes who finished 16th (14 wins, 24 losses).
Previously seen at Rueil in Nationale 1, this young point guard, capable of both scoring and making his teammates better, had lit up the court with 15.1 points, 7.7 assists (NM1’s best passer) and 16.8 evaluation. After signing a two-year contract with NBH in July 2024, the third of the Benitez siblings won’t complete his term with Nantes and will settle on the banks of the Allier next season.
Alexandre Bouzidi also looking for a fresh start at Vichy
Known for giving young talents a chance to fully express themselves, Vichy, a club accustomed to developing prospects and sending them to Betclic Elite (Mamadou Guissé, Ilias Kamardine, Noah Penda and more recently Lucas Dufeal, Assemian Moulare) stays true to its golden rule and continues its policy of training and promoting young talent.
The new Vichy players join forwards Damien Nseke Ebele (JFL) and Pape Diop (Cotonou), power forward Brice Eyaga (Cotonou) and center Serge Mourtala (Cotonou) in the 2025-2026 roster.
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