On June 30, Parma announced the signing of a contract with American Royce Hamm. The agreement with the center was calculated according to the “1+1” scheme. Parma will become the basketball player’s third club in the United League. Before that, he played for Zenit and Astana. In the 2023/2024 season, Royce already participated in the VTB United League All-Star Game. “Championship” tells about a newcomer to the Perm team.
Royce Hamm
Photo: Press service of BC Minsk.
In the NCAA, Hamm played for the University of Texas for four years. In 90 games, he averaged 1.9 points and 2.3 rebounds. Not a great statistic. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, fourth-year players were allowed to play one more season and Hamm took advantage of it. He transferred to UNLV, where he played 32 games and averaged 8.6 points and 9.3 rebounds.
The American’s first professional club was Belgian club Antwerp, but during his first season as a professional, Hamm received an offer from Zenit St. Petersburg and found himself in the VTB United League for the first time. Hamm managed to play 26 games with the blue and white, in which he scored 5.8 points and captured 3.7 rebounds. Obviously, Zenit expected more from him, so at the end of the 2022/2023 season, Hamm left the team on the banks of the Neva. However, after a while it became known that Royce became a player for Kazakh Astana. Hamm fit into the capital team and became one of the team leaders with 16.6 points and 8.2 rebounds. His play not only allowed Astana to perform well during the season, but also gave Royce the opportunity to reach the United League All-Star Game.
In an exclusive interview with Championship in March, Royce Hamm admitted that after Zenit he had offers from Greece and Turkey, but felt comfortable in the United League.
Royce Hamm
basketball player
“Why didn’t it work out at Zenit? I was just starting my professional career, I was figuring everything out, I was trying to do everything to help the team win, but unfortunately we failed. Javi Pascual is a great coach with a lot of knowledge and I enjoyed working and playing with him. [После «Зенита»] I had other offers, from Greece and Turkey, but, to be honest, returning to the VTB United League became a more comfortable option for me, because this league was already familiar to me, plus I felt that I had not yet shown the best version of Royce at this Hamma tournament.”
However, Hamm left Astana during the championship and finished the 2023/2024 season at Puerto Rico’s Leones de Ponce. But a few months later, Royce returned to the United League!
Now Hamm will defend the colors of Parma, and it is obvious that he comes to replace his former Zenith teammate Richard Solomon, who, despite the shock season, left the Perm team.
Royce Hamm
Photo: Press service of BC “Astana”
Hamm and Solomon are very similar: bright and furious play under the basket on offense, fierce defense in their own half. Blocked shots and effective participation in fast breaks are what they have in common. Parma and Astana played similar basketball last season, despite their different positions in the standings. There is no concern that Hamm needs a lot of time to adapt or that he somehow doesn’t fit well with Evgeny Pashutin. On the contrary, Royce seems like an ideal replacement for Richard Solomon and, quite possibly, can seriously improve. This is to be expected, because next season will be only Hamm’s third in his professional career. And he already participated in the United League All-Star Game.
Parma has a great team, maybe even better than before. Garrett Navels and Royce Hamm will delight fans both individually and as a team. Let’s not forget one of the most talented Russian players to join the Parma squad, Samson Ruzhentsev, for whom the 2024/2025 season should also be a breakthrough. Evgeniy Pashutin has a wealth of experience behind him, which allows him to put this puzzle together correctly. Royce Hamm is a great signing for the Permian team. We look forward to his debut with this club’s shirt.
