Demon Deacons Bring On Canka to 2023 Roster
5/23/2023 1:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest men's basketball program and head coach Steve Forbes have announced the addition of undergraduate transfer Abramo Canka to the squad beginning in the fall of 2023. Canka arrives from UCLA and will have three years of eligibility remaining.
"We first started recruiting Abramo in June of 2020 shortly after we came to Wake Forest. We tried very hard to sign him last summer before he decided to attend UCLA. Abramo is an extremely talented and gifted young man. He possesses very good positional size and skill. Abramo is a student of the game and excels in the classroom as well. We are extremely excited to have Abramo join our basketball family at Wake Forest."- head coach Steve Forbes
Abramo Canka | Guard | 6-6 | 200 lbs | UCLA | Genoa, Italy
As a freshman this past season, Canka appeared in 22 games for the Bruins. He shot 44.4 percent from the field (12-for-27) and 50.0 percent from 3-point territory (5-for-10). Early in the winter, Canka scored a season-high six points during a home victory against Pepperdine (Nov. 23), making both of his tries from three-point territory. He also recorded five points in two other outings, happening against Norfolk State (Nov. 14) and Northwestern (March 18) in the NCAA Tournament. Canka opened the New Year by totaling a season-high four rebounds in a win at Washington (Jan. 1).
A native of Genoa, Italy, Canka attended Istituto Paritario "G. Papi" and ITIS Biagio Pascal Roma in his home country during his prep career. He went on to compete with the Italian National Team at various age levels, playing for Italy at the FIBA Under 20 European Championships during the 2022 summer. Canka averaged 9.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists in seven games while shooting 45.6 percent from the field. Additionally, he averaged 10.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game at the 2018 FIBA U16 European Championships.
Competing for Stella Azzurra Roma at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament in Munich, Germany, in January 2020, Canka landed All-Tournament team honors in the under-18 division, averaging 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game en route to guiding his team to an appearance in the finals.
