DUBAI (United Arab Emirates) - Erick Neal rewrote FIBA WASL history right in his very first game.
The 30-year-old broke the record for most assists in a game when he dished out 17 in Ittihad Club's vengeful 94-88 victory over Shabab Al Ahli in the 2025-26 season opener at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall.
He surpassed the old mark of 16 set by Ramon Galloway for Al Difaa Al Jawi during last season's WASL-West Asia League, doing so when Mathna Almarwani turned his pass to a trey for the 91-81 lead with 2:47 left to play.
Neal had zero idea of what he had just accomplished until being informed as much later.
"I was not aware of this," the 1.78 M (5'10") playmaker said the day after their win. "I didn’t even know what the record was. I honestly was just playing basketball the way I play basketball, but I’m honored to do so."
It was, all in all, a stupendous performance from the native of Dallas, Texas. He also finished with a team-high 25 points on an efficient 9-of-16 shooting alongside 6 rebounds and 3 steals, netting an efficiency of 38.
And to do all that against the reigning WASL-Gulf League titlists - the same team which swept the Tigers in the best-of-3 Final to annex its breakthrough crown in the pan-regional tilt - serves as the cherry on top.
"It’s always a good feeling to get your first win, but to have it in the WASL and against the defending champs makes it even better," said Neal, who also went near-perfect from the foul line with a 6-of-7 clip.
Neal is actually among the many new faces in Ittihad but he's indeed a shot in the arm in terms of providing further leadership to a team that's aiming to bring home the gold after falling short the last time out.
In fact, he's grizzled within the FIBA club competition context, having played in two editions of the FIBA Europe Cup from 2023 to 2024 with a Basketball Champions League stint in between - all with CSM CSU Oradea.
"The FIBA Europe Cup is a great European competition," recalled Neal, who suited up for a total of 24 games for the Romanian side in all those events and averaged 15.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 7.6 assists.
"So much talent there, and really great matchups with teams from all over Europe," he added.
Definitely, those experiences would be of much help for Ittihad and their aspirations of finishing the story, and Neal himself would be glad to have a hand in attaining the kind of success the organization dreams of.
"Ittihad is a great club with great people around it, and I’m proud to be a part of the black-and-yellow family," said the UT Arlington product, who has played professionally in Turkey, Poland, and Montenegro.
Well, they've already begun on such a high note by taking down their budding rivals, although Neal would rather his team stay grounded and try to be as locked in as they can while working on achieving their one true goal.
"Big win for us, for sure. But we will just take it one game at a time and keep the main thing the main thing, which is staying together and playing hard every night we step on the floor," Neal said.
FIBA