Fresh faces for Bayern: When head coach Anton Gavel gathers his new team for its first training session at BMW Park on Friday morning, a young quintet from FC Bayern Basketball’s development program will be involved. Kilian Fischer, Niko Jerkic, Andrijia Susic, Caspar Vossenberg and Desmond Yiamu will form part of the FCBB’s extended roster next season, completing the squad that will open a new chapter on September 20 with its BBL opener against Bamberg (6 p.m. at BMW Park).
“They have earned this opportunity”
“The five young players earned the opportunity to support the professional squad through their performances last season. They are expected to gain valuable experience while also providing the necessary competition in training,” FCBB sporting director Thorsten Leibenath said, explaining the decision to bring so many prospects into the first team for the first time. “We believe they can also take on responsibility in selected competitive games.”
The five prospects will continue to play a key role for the club’s young second team in the ProB under head coach Emir Mutapcic, while working more closely with the professionals under Gavel. Center Kilian Fischer, 19, and German-Croatian guard Niko Jerkic, 18, have already gained initial experience, each making a brief appearance in the easyCredit BBL last season.
Serbian shooting guard Andrijia Susic, 18, and center Desmond Yiamu, 19, also got a taste of professional basketball during Bayern’s preseason a year ago. Yiamu, who recently won the European Championship Division B with Ukraine’s under-20 team, already qualifies as a homegrown player under the relevant regulations thanks to his time in the FCBB program. German under-18 international Caspar Vossenberg, a 17-year-old guard, was named “Rookie of the Year” in the under-19 national league in the spring.
Elias Harris won four titles in Munich
With these five FCBB prospects being gradually integrated into the professional squad, it is also clear that veteran Elias Harris and U.S. center David McCormack will not return to the team.
Harris suffered a serious injury in the playoff semifinals at the end of Bayern’s 2025 championship season before making his BBL comeback in May after an eleven-month absence. The 37-year-old power forward spent four years with Bayern, winning the domestic double in 2024 and the German Cup in 2023. “Big E” made 57 EuroLeague appearances for the club, scoring a personal-best 17 points in Bayern’s victory at FC Barcelona in March 2025. In the Bundesliga, he wore the FCBB jersey in 101 games, averaging 5.7 points per game.
“Elias has given an enormous amount to this club over the past four years, and FC Bayern Basketball is extremely grateful to him for that. This is also reflected in the fact that we are currently in talks with him about a possible modified role. Whatever happens, Elias will always be welcome here,” Leibenath emphasized.
Harris’s contract, which had been extended again in 2024, has now expired, as has the deal of David McCormack, who joined Bayern a year ago. The 27-year-old 2022 NCAA champion made 28 league appearances, averaging 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He also played 28 EuroLeague games, averaging 6.9 points.
FC Bayern Basketball thanks Elias and David for their tremendous commitment and wishes them all the best for the future.
