Pepperdine tabs Oliver Kanden, ex Karhubasket

Pepperdine University signed 21-year-old Finnish 6-7 small forward Oliver Kanden for the upcoming season. He has played for the last three years at Karhubasket in Finnish Korisliiga. In 36 games, he averaged 8.0ppg and 3.6rpg last season. He helped them finish the regular season as the second-best team in the league. Kanden also played 1 game in Basketball Champions League, where he had 5 points, 1 rebound, and 2 assists.
He represented Finland at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr (Germany) last year. During this event, he scored an average of 8.3 points per game and had 2.7 rebounds per game.
Kanden has played for other Finnish teams such as FoKoPo, Bisons, Jyvaskyla Basketball Academy, and JBA Gardia.
He played in the final of the Finnish League in 2025, among many awards. He was voted an Honorable Mention to the Eurobasket.com All-Finnish 1st Division back in 2023.