Hugo Besson Signs with ASVEL, Returns to France

ASVEL continues building its roster piece by piece. The Villeurbanne club officially announced the signing of Hugo Besson, and the 25-year-old French shooting guard returns to his home country after his stint with Turkish side Tofas Bursa.

The club clearly defines what it's acquiring: an outside player capable of playing both point guard and shooting guard who brings scoring ability, creativity, and international experience. He will wear number 25, and that jersey number carries more history than it might seem: it's the same number that Saint-Quentin retired in his honor after the 2020-21 season, when the then-loaned Chalon player was the league's leading scorer, best young player, and made the All-Pro B team. Rarely does a player arrive at a new club with his number already hanging in another arena.

A Round-Trip Journey

His is the career of a globe-trotting sharpshooter. After breaking out at Saint-Quentin, he traveled the world to the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian league, the showcase that got him into the NBA draft: the Indiana Pacers selected him 58th overall in 2022 and immediately traded his rights to the Milwaukee Bucks, who kept him as a project in the pipeline with appearances in the Summer League.

Back in France, he signed with Metropolitans 92, with whom he reached the French championship final in 2023 sharing a locker room with a certain Victor Wembanyama in his final season before San Antonio. Then came the nomadic phase: FMP Belgrade, Italian Varese, and the Turkish double of Manisa and Tofas, before ASVEL brought him back home.

Another Piece of the Same Plan

The signing follows Villeurbanne's summer pattern to the letter. Operating under financial control and rebuilding the roster on the fly, the club has bet on affordable talent with reasons to prove itself: Patty Mills, Joel Bolomboy, Nate Sestina, Jae Crowder, the renewal of Edwin Jackson, and now a 25-year-old Frenchman with domestic roster status and proven scoring across three leagues. For Besson, moreover, the equation is transparent: the EuroCup with ASVEL is the best showcase he's had since the draft.