Edgar Lugo
Edgar Lugo began playing basketball in high school. At William Howard Taft High School in the Bronx, New York, he averaged 27 points per game and was named Bronx Player of the Year in 1999. He went on to Boston University on a basketball scholarship, averaging 11 points as a freshman and earning conference freshman honors. He later returned to New York and played two seasons at Lehman College, averaging 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Edgar’s professional career ran from 2003 to 2023, with stints in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Venezuela and Paraguay. He holds the record for most three-pointers in two countries and shares the record for most championships in the La Vega tournament, with eight titles. Since 2024 he has worked as a professional coach, focusing on assistant coaching, player development and mentoring. In 2026 he won his first championship as a coach, claiming the title in the Dominican Republic’s top league.
Nikoloz Leonidze
Nikoloz Leonidze started playing basketball at the age of five. Over the years, basketball became far more than a game for him and an inseparable part of his life. During his playing career, Nikoloz represented Orbi, Sokhumi, Batumi and TSU. At academy level, he became a ten-time Georgian youth champion. With TSU he won two silver medals in the Georgian Superleague, and with Hyundai he won the A League. He began his coaching career at Orbi in 2021 and later continued at Rising Star. For Nikoloz, coaching was a natural next step: he always knew he wanted to stay in basketball after his playing days. His main goal is to help young players improve not only their basketball skills but also their personal development, teaching them the value of discipline, teamwork, hard work and respect for the sport.
