Behnam Yakhchali moves into Iran limelight

TEHRAN (FIBA Basketball World Cup/2015 FIBA Asia Championship) - You know all about the Iranian national team heroes that have put the country on the map in international basketball.

This is the country that has captured titles at three of the last four FIBA Asia Championships, the national team that played at the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 and 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cups.

The first name that comes to mind when thinking of Iran's emergence may be that of Hamed Hadadi, the giant center with NBA experience, or Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, the silky-smooth small forward.

Mahdi Kamrani, the whirling dervish of a point guard, is one of Iran's greats and so is the shooting guard Hamed Afagh, a player that has always done a little bit of everything to help Iran win basketball games.

Since 2010, there has been the athletic and tenacious rebounder, Arsalan Kazemi.

In the summers to come, the player you want to keep an eye on is Behnam Yakhchali.

The 1.91m native of Shahrekord, Yakhchali has been honored as Iran's Basketball Player of the Year.

He started making a name for himself in Iran's youth teams.

He was among the star attractions for Iran at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship in Prague.

Yakhchali made his FIBA Basketball World Cup bow last year, less than two months after celebrating his 19th birthday.

He showed flashes of what is to come in the years ahead.

In Iran's second game, against Brazil, Yakhchali, wearing the number six on his jersey, was involved in a couple highlight reel plays.

In one, he came up with a loose ball and passed up the floor to his teammate Mohammad Jamshidi for a fastbreak lay-up, while on the other, in a half-court set, Yakhchali dribbled to his right to the free-throw line and then reversed direction before driving and scoring.

Iran did not achieve their pre-tournament aim of advancing from a tough Group A to the Round of 16, but they won a game against Egypt and pushed eventual bronze-medal winners France to the very end before falling, 81-76.

Their biggest task will be at the FIBA Asia Championship taking place from 23 September to 3 October in Wuhan, China, where a spot for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics will be at stake.

FIBA