Five Things to Know: Elias Rapieque

Pronunication Guide

Elias Rapieque > uh-LEE-us RUH-pee-ECK

Today we continue a series of "Get to Know" features on the newest members of the 2025-26 Kansas State men's basketball team. We continue with junior wing Elias Rapieque (Berlin, Germany/ALBA Berlin), who is one of 10 newcomers, and one of 4 international players.

Head coach Jerome Tang recently announced the 14-member team, which can be reviewed here.

Rapieque's complete bio can be viewed here.

Rapieque is one of 5 international players on the K-State roster.

The 6-foot-8, 200-pound junior wing is one of 5 international players on the K-State roster in 2025-26, which includes fellow juniors Dorin Buca (Perugia, Italy), Mobi Ikegwuruka (Galway, Ireland), sophomore Stephen Osei (Toronto, Ontario) and freshman Andrej Kostic (Belgrade, Serbia). The 5 international players are the most on any Wildcat team in school history.

Rapieque is the first-ever German-born basketball player at K-State. In fact, he is one of just 24 foreign-born players in school history, and one of just seven players from the European continent, along with his current teammates. Other European Wildcats include Dramane Diarra (Paris, France, 2003-05), David N'Guessan (De Lier, The Netherlands, 2022-25) and Ivan Sulic (Split, Croatia, 1999-2002).

Rapieque grew up in the ALBA Berlin club in his hometown of Berlin.

Rapieque grew up in the ALBA Berlin club, which was founded in 1991 and is currently the largest German national basketball club by membership and one of the most popular by average attendance with more than 10,000 fans per game. It is also considered to be the most successful German basketball team with 11 German Championships, 11 German Cups, 3 German Supercups and the 1995 FIBA Korac Cup. It competes in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), which is the highest level of professional basketball in Germany, as well as the Champions League.

Rapieque made his debut with ALBA Berlin at the age of 17 during the 2021-22 season, playing in 4 games with the U18 team and averaging 10.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while he made one appearance with the main team in the BBL, playing 2 minutes.

This past season, Rapieque played in 27 games with 4 starts with ALBA Berlin in the Euroleague, averaging 4.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game, and in 26 games in the BBL, averaging 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 14.1 minutes per game.

Rapieque also played with SSV lok Bernau Alba in German ProB League.

Rapieque also gained experience playing with SSV lok Bernau Alba in the German ProB League, which is the third-tier level of professional basketball in Germany. He played in 22 games with 7 starts at the age of 18 with Bernau, averaging 6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 16.6 minutes per game in 2022-23. His production made a big jump in 2023-24 when he averaged 16.1 points on 44.7 percent shooting with 5.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 31.1 minutes game while playing in 17 games with 16 starts.

Rapieque had his best season with Bernau in 2024-25, averaging 18.1 points on 47.7 percent shooting with 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.4 steals in 28.9 minutes per game. He collected a triple-double against the Berlin Braves on March 1 with 16 points, a season-high 12 rebounds and a season-best 11 assists in 35 minutes. He scored a career-best 27 points vs. ETB Miners on Feb. 15.

Rapieque was an honorable mention All-German ProB in both 2024 and 2025.

Rapieque was a member of the German U18 and U20 National Teams.

Rapieque was a member of the German U18 and U20 National Teams, playing at the 2022 European U18 Championship as well as 2023 and 2024 European U20 Championship. He got his first taste of international competition at the 2022 FIBA U18 European Championship in Izmir, Turkey, averaging 5.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 17.8 minutes per game. He scored in double figures twice in 7 games played.

Most recently, Rapieque played on the German U20 National Team at the FIBA U20 Eurobasket, averaging 10.9 points on 50 percent shooting with 3.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 24.1 minutes per game. He had a tournament-high 17 points vs. Montenegro on 6-of-10 shooting with 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 27 minutes on July 18, 2024.

Rapieque is the first German-born player at K-State.

Rapieque is the first-ever German-born basketball player at K-State. In fact, he is one of just 24 foreign-born players in school history, and one of just seven players from the European continent, along with current teammates Dorin Buca (Perugia, Italy), Mobi Ikegwuruka (Galway, Ireland) and Andrej Kostic (Belgrade, Serbia). Other European Wildcats include Dramane Diarra (Paris, France, 2003-05), David N'Guessan (De Lier, The Netherlands, 2022-25) and Ivan Sulic (Split, Croatia, 1999-2002).

Rapieque's mother, Altangerel, was born in Mongolia while his father, Jose, was born in Mozambique (a country in southeast Africa).

Tickets for the 2025-26 season are currently on sale with a variety of options and packages. Fans can purchase tickets by calling toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287) and/or online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets.

How to follow the 'Cats: For complete information on K-State men's basketball, visit www.kstatesports.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dorin Buca

Mobi Ikegwuruka

Andrej Kostic

David N'Guessan

Stephen Osei

Elias Rapieque

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