Past U18 stars that continue to shine brightly in the senior national team

NONTHABURI (FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018) - The main intrigue of basketball in the Under 18 level has always been the chance to see some of the best prospects going up against each other before they advance on further to the senior levels. For some, the eventual stardom was evident from the start. For others, it might have taken sometime to develop and blossom into the superstars that they are today.

Here are some of today’s national team stars or blooming prospects that displayed their potential in the FIBA U18 Asian Championships of the past! 

Zhou Qi (China)

 Zhou Qi’s was already on the path to great success even before playing in the FIBA U18 Asian Championship back in 2014. He broke out in the 2011 FIBA U16 Asian Championship and followed that up with great success in the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship and the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship.

But it was in 2014 where Qi made his final appearance in the youth level and he made sure to make it a memorable one by winning the championship on averages of 13.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks.

Since then he’s gone on to being an All-Star Five in the 2015 Asia Championship, an Olympian in 2016, and finally making his NBA debut with the Houston Rockets in 2017.

Not bad, right?

Wael Arakji (Lebanon)

 For a country as crazy about basketball as Lebanon, there’s a lot of pressure in carrying the mantle as the face of the future of the national team.

Even then, Wael Arakji has done a marvelous job of easing into that role as each year passes. The 23-year-old starred in the FIBA U18 Asian Championship in 2012 averaging 20.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 steals for Lebanon who finished in 7^th place. Arakji has been on a tear since and is a staple on the Senior Men’s National Team without a doubt.

So far in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifers, Araki has been logging an efficiency rate of 19.5 (2^nd highest on the team) on 16.5 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.8 rebounds.

Abdulrahman Saad (Qatar)

The future of Qatar basketball is currently nestled in the hands of their star guard Abdulrahman Saad. He was near unstoppable in the FIBA U18 Asia Championship back in 2014, leading the tournament with an average of 27 points. Qatar managed to finish only at 10^th place in that tournament, but it was clear from that point on that Saad would be a star. Saad has been a solid performer in the recent years since jumping to the senior level and is continuing to breakout in the FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers. In 31.3 minutes per game, the 22-year-old is averaging 16.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists as Qatar heads into the second round.

Chen Ying-Chun (Chinese-Taipei)

 As the Chinese-Taipei national team starts their transition to a younger generation, in the center of that movement has been Chen Ying-Chun.

Chen has been tagged as Chinese-Taipei’s next in line for stardom ever since leading their U18 National team to a third place finish in the 2010 FIBA U18 Asian Championship. Their third place finish led them to qualify for the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship where Chen led them once again with 13.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game.

That was just the beginning for Chen and he’s now emerged as the Senior Men’s National Team star after averaging 13.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 32.1 minutes in the FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifers. 

Benham Yakchali (Iran)

 As one of the top basketball nation’s not only in Asia, but the entire world, Iran has an impressively large pool of talented players. That’s why it’s special for a player like Behnam Yakchali to have always stood out among the rest as one of the best players on the national team. The 23-year-old has rarely missed a stint on the Senior Men’s National Team ever since advancing from the youth level after the 2012 FIBA U18 Asian Championship. Yakchali averaged 17.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 2.0 assists for the third place team in that tournament.

He has since maintined approximately the same level of production despite the level of competition with 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in the first round of the FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers.

Guo Ailun (China)

China has a long history of producing some of the best big men in the region, but Guo Ailun has broken the mold by standing out as one of the best guards in the all of Asia at only a young age of 24. He hasn’t played in the FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers with China already claiming a ticket to the World Cup as hosts, but he’s already shown enough over the past years to make his claim as one of the best players of the region.

Guo has been starring ever since the youth ranks, winning the 2010 FIBA U18 Championship title by scoring 28 points in the championship game over Korea. His more recent line of 17.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup for 5^th placed China proves that he is just still as good as ever.

FIBA