BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Sergio El Darwich had to go through some rookie hazing as the "old rookie" on the Lebanon national team during the previous window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers

"I got my beard shaved by Ali Haider!" he said in a recent interview with @FIBAAsiaCup on Instagram Live.

"It was either my hair or my beard so I got to get rid of my beard because I wanted to get rid of it anyways. I'm like 'Okay, just chop it off'."

It's possible that shedding off some of that weight allowed El Darwich to be lighter on his feet as he was quick to show in his official debut.

The date was November 27. It was just the first game ever for him with the Lebanon senior men's national team, but he didn't care. He was out in transition and he saw a runway.

"I know that whenever I'm in the open court like that, when I'm on the fast break or I have an open lane, I'm not going to do a layup," El Darwich recalled. "And my teammates knew that. I was just going to throw it down, it doesn't matter who was jumping with me. I'm going to jump. Either I get blocked or I dunk it, I don't care."

"I was just going up. I didn't care if he was jumping or not, but he jumped. He made a mistake, he jumped and I just went up."

With that, Sergio El Darwich - or "Power Surge"  - introduced himself to Asia Cup basketball with a thunderous one-handed poster slam.

El Darwich has had some experience representing the country, but that didn't mean the opportunity to play for Lebanon at this level for the first time didn't have it's special moments.

"I was kind of prepared but the surreal moment was during the national anthem because I was playing in the US before - I was in the states for 6-7 years - and all I was listening to was the American national anthem pre-game."

"So when I listened to the Lebanese national anthem, I was like 'Oh my god'. I had goosebumps."

It's not surprising to feel the Lebanese pride oozing from El Darwich, a basketball lifer ever since his early youth days in Beirut.

"I started playing basketball in Lebanon maybe when I was like 7 or 8. Me and my brother were around the same age - he's about a year older than me - so we grew up completive. We always played in the house with socks and made baskets with papers and stuff like that."

"My dad had enough! We were making a mess in the house, so he put us in the academy with Al Riyadi and I grew up there until the age of 15."

"Actually, I joined Al Riyadi because of Ismail Ahmad because his wife was a client at my mom's beauty shop and he saw us playing next to my house on the street and he told my dad that he wanted these two kids to come to Al Riyadi. So he took us and we started at Al Riyadi. He was the one that got us in the basketball academy."

"Every time I see him, he remembers that. That was like my basketball story. That's how started playing basketball."

From there, his path in basketball has only continued to skyrocket. From playing for Lebanon in the FIBA 3x3 U18 Asian Championship in 2013 to playing at the high school and collegiate level in the US to now as a promising piece of the senior men's national team's future, "Ball is Life" in the truest sense for El Darwich.

"Basketball is all I know," he said. "I didn't even think that I wanted to pursue basketball for a long while. It's just something that I've done ever since I was a kid. I never knew anything other than basketball as well, so it was just kind of normal for me to become a basketball player. That was a goal of mine to be a basketball player, that was all I know."

A moment that is still fresh in El Darwich's memory involving Lebanon basketball is when they beat powerhouse France at the World Cup in 2006. It's a moment that Lebanese basketball fans will most likely be able to recall exactly what they were doing at the time and El Darwich is one them.

"We were watching it ion the big screen," he recalled. "We were watching the whole game  and how there were two free throws at the end to tie the game and to win the game, and they missed the buzzer-beater to win. It was a hyped up moment. It was really surreal."

"I still remember that moment honestly. I still remember, I'm not even kidding."

"We started jumping around, me and my brother and my friends. My dad called me and he was like 'We just won against France!' and I'm like 'I know, I'm watching!'. It was great."

That feeling of euphoria - watching a beloved team achieve success at the highest level - is something that El Darwich is looking to replicate for the fans that are now watching him on the court.

Even though he's only been part of the program for a short time, he feels optimistic about the future ahead and how much they can accomplish.

"I feel good, I think we have a really good squad, one of the best squads in a long while. We have a really good team, a young talented hungry team. I think this is the best team in probably a long while. Even though the famous names are not there, but the young players who are called up are ready to make an impact to start a new chapter of Lebanese basketball."

As of the moment, Lebanon have already qualified for Asia Cup 2021 with a 4-0 record in Group D. This allows El Darwich to look further ahead into the future to the main event in Indonesia later in the year.

"I feel like I want to play against the Philippines, against Australia, New Zealand, all the big teams. To see how we match up against them, it would be a fun experience."

"I can't wait honestly," Sergio says.

"I hope we can make everybody proud, too, and represent Lebanon the best way possible."

Make sure to check out the full talk with Sergio El Darwich for more on his number, his time playing in the US, and more on Asia Cup IGTV!

FIBA