Men’s Basketball Signs Finland’s Oliver Kanden
6/9/2026 1:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball head coach Griff Aldrich has announced the signing of Oliver Kanden from Finland ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Kanden is a 6-6 wing from Loimaa, Finland, who joins the Waves following three seasons playing for Kauhajoki in Korisliiga, the highest-tier professional basketball league in Finland.
"Oliver Kanden is an elite shooter that will provide us with an experienced wing," said Aldrich. "He is a high-IQ player with tremendous feel that should have a seamless transition into our advantage-style system. We look forward to welcoming Oliver into our program and excited to watch him flourish and develop with us."
Kanden enjoyed a successful stint playing professionally in Finland, as he was named Korisliiga Rookie of the Year in 2024 following his first season in the league. He helped lead Kauhajoki to a Finnish Championship silver medal in 2025 and bronze medal in 2024, emerging as one of the top shooters in the league.
Kanden recorded 8.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game this past season, averaging over 27 minutes per game in 32 games. He shot 38.1% from three-point range on the season, his sixth straight campaign shooting over 36% from distance.
In 2024-25, he shot 41.9% from deep while logging 7.3 points per game in just over 20 minutes per contest. He contributed 5.4 points per game in his first season in Korisliiga in 2023-24, appearing in all 31 games.
Kanden broke through as a teenager in Finland's pro circuit, beginning in the Divara A and Divara B leagues where he played three seasons from 2020-23. His first professional season saw him post 9.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists for Forssan Koripojat in 2020-21.
Playing for Jyvaskyla Academy and Jyvaskyla Weikot the following year, Kanden put up 21.3 points per game in six games for Weikot, shooting over 50% from the field and from three-point range. In 2022-23, he put up over 15 points per game, appearing in 36 games between the clubs. He went on to join Kauhajoki in the Korisliiga the following season.
Kanden has represented Finland on the international stage as well, making the Euro rosters for the U18 and U20 squads. At the Euro U18 Championships in 2023, he logged eight points per game with a 40% clip from deep in Finland's seven games.
He went on to make the U20 teams in consecutive years for the Euro U20 Championships, averaging 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds at the 2025 Championship, once again shooting over 40% from three-point range in the tournament.
This past summer, he played eight men's challenger international matches and was part of the Finnish team at the Rhine-Ruhr Universiade.
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Pepperdine men's basketball has made 13 NCAA postseason appearances while earning 12 WCC Regular-Season Championships and three WCC Tournament Championships in its history. This success has spanned multiple decades, with the Waves most recently winning the 2021 CBI Tournament. The program has also seen 19 All-Americans along with 19 NBA players, which included a streak of 34 consecutive seasons with at least one alum on an NBA roster from 1976-2011.
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