BBV. The Big Boss. The Bosman-Verdunketh. In many ways, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk is indicative of a new, global age of Illinois basketball. The 6-foot-8, 235-pound power forward from Lommel, Belgium is one of five players on the Fighting Illini born outside of the mainland U.S.
I’m always fascinated by how players like he and Giorgi are so composed when being interviewed in English, and BBV has virtually no accent. Of course, then I remember that most people in developed countries are multilingual. Specifically in Belgium, most people speak a combination of Dutch, French, German, Flemish, and English.