BeachReads: The French Connection
10/27/2025 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach State will be counting on two International big men to make an impact this coming season.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Entering his second season as the head coach of Long Beach State, Chris Acker and his staff once again had to face a roster rebuild, but the team went out and identified a pair of International players who the staff believes have the ability to truly make an impact in the coming season in Petar Majstorovic and Leopold Levillain.
Hired following the completion of the 2023-24 season, Acker had built a reputation of success and as a strong recruiter at San Diego State, but was immediately tasked with hiring a full staff, transforming the scheduling philosophy, and additionally filling a roster that nationally ranked nearly last in returning scoring, rebounding and minutes played.
In year two, with his staff in place and a season of experience working together, Acker and his assistants began to implement their plan of how to navigate the new world of recruiting through Division I, locating impact players through multiple avenues. That would include traditional high school recruiting, looking nationally at junior college players, and taking part in the transfer portal which again saw a new high of nearly 2,300 players from Division I alone.
Another place where teams can find transformational talent is internationally, as basketball continues to gain popularity worldwide. For Acker and his staff, they turned to France in finding and recruiting Leopold Levillain.
Levillain actually got a late start into basketball, playing primarily rugby while growing up in Montpelier in the South of France, but ultimately as the 6-9 forward continued to grow, he transitioned into playing basketball.
"I think the mentality I gained from playing rugby has helped me with basketball," said Levillain. "It's so important to be ready for every game and give 100% in every practice to stay healthy, and now in basketball it allows me to give my body more every day. That mindset along with my physical aptitude has allowed me to succeed."
Coach Acker agrees with that assessment. "His physicality is what immediately stood out to us. He's very intelligent, he's fast for his size, and he has the ability to make plays around the rim with the combination of his athleticism and basketball IQ."
Through a connection in France from assistant coach John Montgomery, Long Beach State was able to arrange a visit after a breakthrough season with Cholet Basket. "Long Beach was a lot like my hometown," said Levillain. "The weather was very similar, and I loved the facilities and their vision for the game and what they had planned for the season. I had a great experience and even though I had other offers that was the only visit I made."
Petar Mastorovic would be a later commit to the team, and has both a similar, but very different upbringing from Levillain. A classic gym rat, Mastorovic was born in Serbia but moved to France as a small child, moving with his father who was a professional basketball player in Europe. "I had Serbian parents and lived in a Serbian household, but I grew up and went to school in France so I definitely have both cultures in me," explained Majstorovic.
Following his father through gyms, Majstorovic started playing basketball as a toddler and would continue through high school, ultimately taking a chance to play in the NCAA last season with Syracuse. With the Orange, Majstorovic earned a role in the rotation, averaging nearly 15 minutes per game in ACC play, but was looking for more and entered the transfer portal following the season.
"Petar plays with a lot of maturity," said Acker. "His experiences at Syracuse as well as with the French Youth National Team this summer have really paid off, because he's playing with tremendous confidence and shooting the ball at a high level. He's an elite ball mover, and plays with no agenda. He really understands how to play basketball; meaning that when it's time for him to score, he scores, and when it's time for him to pass, he passes, and he competes defensively."
Similar to Levillain, Long Beach State was the first team to connect with Majstorovic. "We started with a call to explain the project and showed me what they thought my future with Long Beach State could be. Then I came on a visit, I had a great experience with the coaches and a great relationship with them so I decided to commit.
Levillain played a part in that as well. "I definitely asked him some questions, like how he would feel if we played together, how he felt about the environment," said Majstorovic. "Getting his point of view really helped me out."
That common language background may invoke memories of another French-speaking duo, Aboubacar Traore and Lassina Traore, whose immediate connection ultimately paid dividends for Long Beach State in a run to the 2023-24 Big West Championship and the team's tenth NCAA Tournament appearance.
Finally connecting in California, the pair are roommates in addition to teammates. "We have a really good relationship on and off the court, and the coaches and see it that when we play together we are both better," said Levillain.
"I love to see the way that they communicate," said Acker. "If I'm speaking too fast or if Leo doesn't understand something, Petar can translate into French and then they'll both understand. Yesterday, they were both in my office and they wanted to talk basketball and so Petar was basically the translator, but he's really trying to help Leo understand how he can fit within what we're doing."
"It's always nice, you know, when you come to a new country, having someone that I can communicate to in French and is someone who is coming from a similar culture," said Majstorovic. Levillain agreed, adding "He's helped me a lot, having already played one year in the US. He knows more of the basketball language and the slang, how the players talk to each other."
Long Beach State is hoping that that connection will go a long way in both success on the court, but also in helping to continue establish the culture of the program as the year begins.
"They both just have great personalities and are extremely funny," said Acker. "I think the guys really love them and I think they really love their teammates. They compete in just about everything that they do and it's a really good camaraderie."
Hired following the completion of the 2023-24 season, Acker had built a reputation of success and as a strong recruiter at San Diego State, but was immediately tasked with hiring a full staff, transforming the scheduling philosophy, and additionally filling a roster that nationally ranked nearly last in returning scoring, rebounding and minutes played.
In year two, with his staff in place and a season of experience working together, Acker and his assistants began to implement their plan of how to navigate the new world of recruiting through Division I, locating impact players through multiple avenues. That would include traditional high school recruiting, looking nationally at junior college players, and taking part in the transfer portal which again saw a new high of nearly 2,300 players from Division I alone.
Another place where teams can find transformational talent is internationally, as basketball continues to gain popularity worldwide. For Acker and his staff, they turned to France in finding and recruiting Leopold Levillain.
Levillain actually got a late start into basketball, playing primarily rugby while growing up in Montpelier in the South of France, but ultimately as the 6-9 forward continued to grow, he transitioned into playing basketball.
"I think the mentality I gained from playing rugby has helped me with basketball," said Levillain. "It's so important to be ready for every game and give 100% in every practice to stay healthy, and now in basketball it allows me to give my body more every day. That mindset along with my physical aptitude has allowed me to succeed."
Coach Acker agrees with that assessment. "His physicality is what immediately stood out to us. He's very intelligent, he's fast for his size, and he has the ability to make plays around the rim with the combination of his athleticism and basketball IQ."
Through a connection in France from assistant coach John Montgomery, Long Beach State was able to arrange a visit after a breakthrough season with Cholet Basket. "Long Beach was a lot like my hometown," said Levillain. "The weather was very similar, and I loved the facilities and their vision for the game and what they had planned for the season. I had a great experience and even though I had other offers that was the only visit I made."
Petar Mastorovic would be a later commit to the team, and has both a similar, but very different upbringing from Levillain. A classic gym rat, Mastorovic was born in Serbia but moved to France as a small child, moving with his father who was a professional basketball player in Europe. "I had Serbian parents and lived in a Serbian household, but I grew up and went to school in France so I definitely have both cultures in me," explained Majstorovic.
Following his father through gyms, Majstorovic started playing basketball as a toddler and would continue through high school, ultimately taking a chance to play in the NCAA last season with Syracuse. With the Orange, Majstorovic earned a role in the rotation, averaging nearly 15 minutes per game in ACC play, but was looking for more and entered the transfer portal following the season.
"Petar plays with a lot of maturity," said Acker. "His experiences at Syracuse as well as with the French Youth National Team this summer have really paid off, because he's playing with tremendous confidence and shooting the ball at a high level. He's an elite ball mover, and plays with no agenda. He really understands how to play basketball; meaning that when it's time for him to score, he scores, and when it's time for him to pass, he passes, and he competes defensively."
Similar to Levillain, Long Beach State was the first team to connect with Majstorovic. "We started with a call to explain the project and showed me what they thought my future with Long Beach State could be. Then I came on a visit, I had a great experience with the coaches and a great relationship with them so I decided to commit.
Levillain played a part in that as well. "I definitely asked him some questions, like how he would feel if we played together, how he felt about the environment," said Majstorovic. "Getting his point of view really helped me out."
That common language background may invoke memories of another French-speaking duo, Aboubacar Traore and Lassina Traore, whose immediate connection ultimately paid dividends for Long Beach State in a run to the 2023-24 Big West Championship and the team's tenth NCAA Tournament appearance.
Finally connecting in California, the pair are roommates in addition to teammates. "We have a really good relationship on and off the court, and the coaches and see it that when we play together we are both better," said Levillain.
"I love to see the way that they communicate," said Acker. "If I'm speaking too fast or if Leo doesn't understand something, Petar can translate into French and then they'll both understand. Yesterday, they were both in my office and they wanted to talk basketball and so Petar was basically the translator, but he's really trying to help Leo understand how he can fit within what we're doing."
"It's always nice, you know, when you come to a new country, having someone that I can communicate to in French and is someone who is coming from a similar culture," said Majstorovic. Levillain agreed, adding "He's helped me a lot, having already played one year in the US. He knows more of the basketball language and the slang, how the players talk to each other."
Long Beach State is hoping that that connection will go a long way in both success on the court, but also in helping to continue establish the culture of the program as the year begins.
"They both just have great personalities and are extremely funny," said Acker. "I think the guys really love them and I think they really love their teammates. They compete in just about everything that they do and it's a really good camaraderie."
Players Mentioned
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