BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Another newcomer is out to make waves as Al Ula Club are all set and raring to go in the 2025-26 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) that finally raises its curtains this week.
Team history
The team will be the second Saudi Arabia side in the upcoming Gulf League next to Ittihad, marking the first time since the 2022-23 inaugurals that two clubs from the country will compete in the same season.
And their WASL stint should add more to the kind of lore they've been trying to build since 2023, or since the club came under the control of the Royal Commission for Al Ula, as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program.
Al Ula Club traces their roots all the way to 1978 before being registered to the Ministry of Youth three years after, then under the Wadi Al-Qura banner. But they'd rebrand to the name we know now years later.
Fast forward to 2025 and the organization, particularly its basketball arm, has ventured into the FIBA club competition, when their women's team took part in the Women's Basketball League Asia last September.
Soon, their spear side will be seeing action in the pan-regional competition owned and operated by FIBA.
Players to watch
But make no mistake about thinking that they're just happy to be part of this all. Al Ula will be bringing the big guns in their maiden campaign, bannered by the tried and tested tandem of Wael Arakji and Thon Maker.
Arakji and Maker were signed during the offseason, brought in with the hope that they'd impart the championship pedigree they had with Lebanese powerhouse Al Riyadi to a team hungry for success.
They've also acquired the services of another WASL veteran in former NBA floor general Jonathan Gibson, who was previously part of the Sagesse teams that made some noise in the WASL-West Asia League.
And not to be forgotten, of course, is star big man Mo Alsuwailem, who's been Saudi's top center for years now and will definitely look to show as much in his return to the league after playing for Al Hilal in the 2022-23 tilt.
Al Ula Club are situated in Group B of the 2025-26 Gulf League competitions together with fellow debutants Sharjah SC and returnees Kuwait Club and Al Arabi SC. To know more about their WASL campaign, click here.
FIBA