While the playoffs punctuate the spring, meeting with Sevag Keucheyan (46 years old). The Geneva native, a former Swiss international, has become the country’s most influential agent and sees a bright future for Swiss basketball.
As a player, he put his abilities at the service of the collective, he was the leader responsible for bringing a team together. Twenty years later, Sevag Keucheyan is responsible for establishing the link between actors, coaches and clubs. Impossible to have attended a basketball game without seeing him around! The former Geneva Devils distributor has not only become the most highly rated agent in Switzerland, but also a big name in Europe. This is evidenced by the requests he receives, the messages and calls flooding into his phone.
This daily life, the person concerned wanted it, even dreamed of it. “I always wished I could stay in basketball, he explains. But I definitely didn’t want to become a coach, because I wouldn’t have wanted to have to manage guys like me (laughs)! I was studying business economics and, as I had always been passionate about recruitment and scouting, as I already watched tons of videos and as I already had my own database as a player, I I moved towards this job as an agent.”
I always wished I could stay in basketball, but I definitely didn’t want to become a coach, because I wouldn’t have wanted to have to manage guys like me…
However, this is not an easy path to take in Switzerland. But Sevag Keucheyan, whose first clients were called Cédric Mafuta or Mikael Maruotto, knew how to make his mark. Especially because he remained true to himself. “He is a reliable and honest person.notes Imad Fattal, former president of the Geneva Lions, who was the agent’s teammate in 2004/2005. In 12 years at the head of the club, I have never had a problem with Sevag, because he is an efficient and intelligent intermediary, who seeks to find solutions, not to create problems..”
Good fortune – or is it flair? – also escorted the agent of Armenian origin. “I had spotted Arizona Reid, but he hadn’t signed with me thenhe explains. In the process, the American had obtained a contract in Italy but was injured upon arriving there. Once he was hit, he didn’t hear from his agent. So he called me. I told him to come to Geneva to (re)launch himself. Fifteen years later, Arizona has become a superstar in Asia. This is how my career took off…“
Sevag is someone reliable and honest, who seeks to find solutions, not create problems.
Since then, the manager has been everywhere. Some people complain about seeing it here and there. Others, on the contrary, praise his eye and his ability to suggest the right ideas. His interpersonal skills, too. In Switzerland, he cannot show any preference, as he has players in all the clubs. “People sometimes tell me that I help one team more than another, but that’s not true.the former leader defends himself. Only yes, I propose players according to the wishes of sports directors and coaches, while juggling the budgetary envelopes of the clubs. So obviously I can’t offer the same thing to everyone.… “He knows he can’t achieve unanimity.”However, I hope to give the image of a true enthusiast, who works a lot and knows the market perfectly.“, he adds.
I need relationships, need contacts. Players are not numbers.
In this competitive environment, Sevag Keucheyan admits to prioritizing people. “I need this relationship, need contacts. Players are not numbers.” And behind the cliché of the agent who counts the money there are great stories. The one that links him to Chris Jones (Valencia) is to be put at the top of the list.. “I spotted him in 2016, when he was 23, and brought him to Baselremembers the former Swiss international. He then earned around 1,500 Swiss francs per month. Today he is one of the best EuroLeague players and is a multi-millionaire. Our relationship goes beyond that of agent-player.”
After almost 20 years in this role of matchmaker, Sevag Keucheyan never tires. “So yes, I am connected 24 hours a day, and it is sometimes hard for those around me, but my wife and my two children are extraordinary, he asks. The fact is that I am driven by the same passion as at the beginning and I love what I do. I take the same pleasure in going to see an elite match as a 25th League match (laughs). Some older colleagues confide to me that they are starting to lose this passion and that it is getting complicated for them. I fear this will happen to me one day. But at the moment this is not the case at all..”
Arnaud Cerutti
