The three recruits of the off-season seen by Julie Barennes

It would have been difficult for Basket Landes to have such an eventful offseason as the one in the summer of 2023. The squad had been renewed by 80%, with in particular the departures of Marine Fauthoux or Marie-Ève ​​Paget and the retirement of Céline Dumerc, who moved to the other side of the bench. For the 2024-2025 season, the Landes club recruited three players with a profile similar to that of the starters: the American point guard Destiny Slocum, the 3×3 specialist Myriam Djekoundade and the young and promising international guard Leïla Lacan.

They replace position for position the American Alexis Peterson, the former X factor of the team, Kendra Chery, who left for the other side of the Pyrenees to Guernica, and Angela Salvadores, back in Spain after a season in Mont-de-Marsan. “I expect the same from them as the others. I want them to be fully invested, to seize opportunities and to play their basketball,” says coach Julie Barennes.

Destiny Slocum (27 years old, point guard, Györ)

“Destiny, she has a real arm. She is someone who is very tough and very strong in contact. She has great qualities of percussion, of power in fact. She is quite complete offensively, we know the contribution in scoring and creation that she can have. She is an American scoring guard who has real shooting qualities. She has a very good outside shot. She is an endearing person, who has a very good mentality, we are very happy that she is here.”

Leïla Lacan (20 years old, rear, Angers)

“We’re going to pay attention to her because she had a great summer, where she performed very well with the French team (silver medalist at the Olympics, Editor’s note). We need to give her time to come back down and acclimatize. Leïla really has a sense of the game. I don’t know how to explain it any other way. She can do just about everything on the field. She’s also a very well-rounded person.”

Myriam Djekoundade (26 years old, winger, Olympic 3×3)

“She has a bit more of a defender profile, even if she comes here to continue to develop offensively. Myriam, beyond the result at the Olympic Games (France did not get out of the group stage, while a podium was targeted, Editor’s note), she spent a year only playing 3×3. Now, she has to get back on the field (smiles). It’s in her natural qualities so it should come back fairly quickly. We’ll have to be a bit patient for her to get used to playing with more people on the field again.”