Abramo Canka

Abramo Canka (born Abramo Penè; 18 March 2002) is an Italian professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Trieste of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He played three seasons of college basketball between 2022 and 2025, the first with the UCLA Bruins, the second with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and the third with the Stetson Hatters.

Early life and youth career Born in Genoa, Italy, to a Senegalese father and a Kosovo Albanian mother, Canka grew up playing basketball for Tigullio Sport Team Ligure. In 2016, he joined the youth academy of Serie B club Stella Azzurra Roma. He averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals in four games.

Professional career Canka started the 2019–20 season with Stella Azzurra Roma in the third-tier Serie B. He made his first and only appearance on 28 September 2019. He averaged 7.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.6 steals in 18 games for Roseto in 2019–20.

On 27 June 2020, Canka signed with Lokomotiv Kuban of the Russian VTB United League. In 17 games in 2020–21, he averaged 7.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. To finish the 2021–22 season, he played one game for Lokomotiv in the VTB United League and 16 games for Lokomotiv's reserves team in the Russian Basketball Super League 1. He missed the start of the 2025–26 season due to injury. He appeared in just one Italian League game for Virtus before being sent on loan to Pallacanestro Roseto of Serie A2 on 9 February 2026 for the rest of the season.

On 7 August 2026, Canka signed with Pallacanestro Trieste of the LBA.

College career In August 2022, Canka moved to the United States to play college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, whose assistant coach Ivo Simović had strong connections to the international community. As a freshman in 2022–23, Canka played in 22 games and averaged 1.5 points in 5.4 minutes per game. He shot 44% overall and 50% on 3-pointers (5 of 10), but struggled at times defensively, not uncommon for youngsters in coach Mick Cronin's complex defense. who had recruited him before he chose UCLA.

In June 2024, Canka transferred to Stetson. In 26 games for the Hatters in 2024–25, he made 21 starts and averaged 8.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals in 26.0 minutes per game. He also averaged 9.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in the 2022 FIBA U20 European Championship.

Career statistics

College