Nastja Claessens will represent Belgium who is looking to defend their Gold Medal after winning Women’s EuroBasket 2023.
The Washington Mystics will not see any players go to FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 this year. But one of their recent draft picks will be. Nastja Claessens was the 30th overall pick by the Mystics in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Claessens has been a draft-and-stash for Washington so far, but she was part of the Belgium women’s national basketball team for their 2024 Olympics appearance in Paris, France and will do so again in 2025 for Women’s EuroBasket.
Belgium enters Women’s EuroBasket 2025 as reigning champions, with high expectations to repeat after their dominant run in 2023. Though veteran leaders like former Mystics star Emma Meesseman remain the cornerstone of the squad and former Mystics (and now Golden State Valkyries) guard Julie Vanloo also headline the Cats’ starpower, the emergence of younger players like Claessens offers a glimpse of the team’s future. At just 20 years old, the 6’1 forward has already earned international experience and is poised to contribute valuable minutes off the bench for the Cats.
Her selection to the final 12-player roster signals confidence from Cats head coach Mike Thibault (yes, the best head coach in Mystics franchise history) and his staff. So even though Claessens isn’t in a Mystics or WNBA jersey yet, it will be interesting to see how she does in Women’s EuroBasket.
I won’t be writing much on the Cats’ Women’s EuroBasket run because no current Mystics players will be there. But this is still a tournament I’ll be keeping an eye on.