DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - Hashem Asad is looking to gain valuable experience in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Final 8 as he gears up for the big step.

The Kuwait Club youngster is leaving for the United States next month as he has committed to play for NCAA D1 school Georgetown University.

"It's going to prepare me for Division 1 basketball," he said.

Asad, who turned 18 just last April, also had UMass Boston as an option, but ultimately chose to become a Hoya as he was enticed with how the university puts a premium not just on athletics, but on academics as well.

"It was the best option," said the American School of Kuwait product. "I picked Georgetown because of the great coaching staff they have there, and because of how much importance they put on basketball and academics together."

To be welcomed by one of NCAA's most successful basketball programs couldn't be any more perfect for a kid who had long been dreaming of playing in the D1.

"It was always something I wanted to do as a child," said the son of former Kazma player Maitham Asad. "To have my dreams come true at this age is a great feeling."

In Georgetown, Asad will be joining a team that's rebuilding under Ed Cooley, who was appointed as the Hoyas' new head coach last March after all-time great Patrick Ewing stepped down following their loss in the 2023 Big East tournament.

Surely, he would be among those looking to earn a spot in the rotation. As he does that, he's hoping, of course, to show the same Asad that made him one of the Kuwait youth team's standouts during their FIBA age group stints last year.

The FIBA U16 Asian Championship 2022 in Qatar saw the 1.86 M (6'1") guard average 8.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in three outings.

He then hiked his per-game norms come the FIBA U18 Asian Championship – GBA Qualifiers with 11.6 markers and 4.9 boards in seven games.

Asad only played limitedly in the WASL-Gulf League and is yet to play in the Final 8, but he has no issues with it whatsoever.

He's just being a sponge, trying to absorb everything that he can from this entire experience with Kuwait Club, whom he joined last year.

Because he believes that it will all be worth it eventually.

"Playing with the guys that we have on our team, and also playing versus different teams ...These are gonna prepare me for the next step," Asad said.

FIBA