Cardinals Sign Finland Junior National Team Guard Teemu Suokas

MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball program has signed Finland junior national team guard Teemu Suokas to a National Letter of Intent.

The 6-foot-2 Suokas led HBA-Marsky of the Helsinki Basketball Academy to an unblemished record this winter in Finland's first division. The first European player the program has ever signed, he will join the Cardinals' roster as a freshman next season.

"Teemu is a terrific lead guard from Finland who has played at a high level with his club and national teams and has performed very well with both," head coach James Whitford said. "He has played for great coaches, including the Finland legend (and former Utah and NBA player) Hanno Möttölä. He has a tremendous drive and passion to be a great player, which is always something I look for in recruiting."

Suokas is coming off his third season with HBA-Marsky, having led the club with 12.1 points and 3.8 assists per game. He also averaged 1.1 steals per game. His team was 21-0 when the postseason was canceled because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Helsinki native shot 50.3 percent from the floor, and his 44.8 percent mark from 3-point range was the best of any player in the league with at least 50 attempts.

Suokas played for Team Finland in the European Championships at both the U16 and U18 levels. In the summer of 2017, he was second on the U16 team with 9.0 points per game while also averaging 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals. In 2019, he averaged 8.9 points and 2.0 assists per game for the U18 squad.

"I've always dreamed about playing basketball in the states."

We are glad Finland's Teemu Suokas will live out that dream with us. pic.twitter.com/gKQC1rXZrx
— Ball State Basketball (@BallStateMBB) April 20, 2020

"I have enjoyed getting to know Teemu through phone and video calls and will be very excited when he is able to join us at Ball State in the fall," Whitford said. "He will be a terrific addition to the Cardinal family, and we are thrilled to sign him."

Suokas is the third player to join the Cardinals in the past week since NCAA signings re-opened. He will join Tulsa transfer Reggie Jones and Creighton transfer Jalen Windham, both Indiana high school products, as newcomers in the Ball State program next season.

Ball State is coming off a share of its third MAC West Division championship in five years. The Cardinals went 18-13 (11-7 MAC) and earned the league tournament's No. 3 seed before play was canceled because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Cardinals Sign Finland Junior National Team Guard Teemu Suokas

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