Basketball player Schott

Talent between chessboard and tavern

Fynn Schott (left) wants to make his mark in the national team again.

(Bild: Basketball Austria)

Two years ago, at the age of 16, Fynn Schott from Altenmarkt was the youngest player ever to play for Austria's national basketball team. At the World Cup qualifying double-header away in Albania (Thursday) and Armenia (Sunday), he wants to make the team better, beat his teammates at chess and visit a wine tavern at home.

Fynn Schott has hardly been able to get his (big) feet on Styrian soil for two years now. The 18-year-old has been dribbling for CB Gran Canaria since the summer of 2023, plays for the second team in the third Spanish league and attends the academy there. On Thursday and Sunday, the home national team will play away against Albania and Armenia in the World Cup qualifiers for 2027. "I want to make the team better with my skillset," says the self-confident 2.07-meter man.

Schott (right) at national team training in Vienna.

(Bild: Basketball Austria)

For whom traveling has long been part of everyday life. "We fly from Gran Canaria to the mainland almost every week to play there. We always travel back in time, so to speak." The three-hour time difference in Armenia doesn't cause him any headaches.

He prefers to make sure his national team colleagues, such as Renato Poljak from champions Oberwart, with whom he is sharing a room on the current training course, have the same worries. "When we're waiting for flights or otherwise have to pass the time, we like to play chess." The duel between Schott and Poljak is currently a draw. "But I'm definitely the winner of hearts," grins the likeable youngster.

When asked what he misses most about the Canary Islands, the answer comes like a shot from a pistol: "The Buschenschank! It was really hard to say goodbye to them," so a visit is always on the agenda for each of his sparse visits home. With family and friends, of course.

He also enjoys receiving visits from them in Gran Canaria. "It's a vacation destination, so people like to come by. My parents have already been there and my brother is coming soon." He is always particularly happy to receive visits from his Styrian homeland. Even if they can't quite replace a visit to a wine tavern.