Miikka Muurinen: Difference between revisions

 

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[[Category:Sportspeople from Järvenpää]]

[[Category:Sportspeople from Järvenpää]]

[[Category:Finnish expatriate basketball people in Serbia]]

[[Category:Finnish expatriate basketball people in Serbia]]

[[Category:KK Partizan players]]

Finnish basketball player (born 2007)

Miikka Muurinen (born 4 March 2007), is a Finnish professional basketball player for Partizan Mozzart Bet of the Serbian League (KLS), the ABA League and the EuroLeague. Nicknamed “Slim Jesus“,^[1][2] he is standing at 2.10m tall and holds a wingspan of 220cm.^[3]

Muurinen came through the youth program of Beat Basket [fi] in Järvenpää, Finland.^[4] At the age of 15, he moved to Spain and joined Zentro Basket Madrid [es].^[5]

For the 2023–24 season, Muurinen moved to the United States to attend Sunrise Christian Academy.^[6][4][7] In March 2024, he competed in the Euroleague Next Generation tournament in Dubai, representing the Next Generation Select Team, averaging 7 points, 5 rebounds and one block per game.^[8][9][10]

On 20 June 2024, it was announced that Muurinen would join the Arizona Compass Prep program for the upcoming season.^[11] On 22 July 2024, Muurinen played for Bradley Beal Elite and won the EYBL Peach Jam tournament, scoring 21 points in the final.^[12]

Muurinen is a consensus five-star recruit and one of the top players in the 2026 class, according to major recruiting services. Muurinen had received several offers, including Duke, Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA.^[13][14][15]

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Miikka Muurinen PF	Järvenpää, Finland	AZ Compass Prep (AZ)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	186 lb (84 kg)
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (93)
Overall recruit ranking:    Rivals: 6    247Sports: 8    ESPN: 8
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

On 25 September 2025, Muurinen’s agent, Teddy Archer, confirmed that the Finnish forward would not be returning to AZ Compass Prep, marking the end of his high school basketball career in the United States.^[16] The following day, he was confirmed as a new signing of Partizan Belgrade, a club competing in the EuroLeague and the ABA League.^[17][18] Muurinen signed a three-year deal with the Serbian club.

In August 2023, Muurinen was part of the Finland U16 squad competing in the 2023 FIBA U16 European Championship tournament in Skopje, North Macedonia, where he averaged 16.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game over seven games.^[19]

On 25 June 2024, Muurinen made his debut with the Finland senior national team aged 17, in an Olympic qualifying preparatory friendly game against New Zealand, helping Finland to take a 73–70 win by recording two points, an assist and three blocks.^[20][21][22] He made his second appearance for the Finland senior national team on 28 June, in a friendly game against Latvia, which Finland won 90–84.^[23] Muurinen was also named in the Finland roster for the 2024 FIBA Olympic qualifying matches against Bahamas, Poland and Spain.^[24]

He played for Finland squad at the EuroBasket 2025, as the youngest player in the tournament, where they would reach the semifinals, ultimately finishing 4th as the best result in Finland’s EuroBasket history.^[25][26] At the end of the tournament, Muurinen won the inaugural EuroBasket 2025 Rising Star award,^[27] after averaging 6.6 points and 1.9 rebounds per game with multiple highlight reel dunks and blocks.^[28]

Both his parents are former professional basketball players. His father Kimmo Muurinen played 153 games for Finland national team, and his mother Jenni Laaksonen played college basketball for North Carolina and represented Finland women’s national basketball team in 68 games. He was also coached by his mother while playing in the youth teams in Järvenpää.^[29][30]