Meet the FIBA WASL West Asia teams: Sagesse

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Welcome to the Green Castle.

There's been no shortage of historic and successful teams that either played in WASL - West Asia Season 1 or are lined up to play in Season 2. The participation of Lebanon-side Sagesse adds on to that list and is coming along with an impressive resume.

To share some wisdom (wink, wink), it would be foolish to take Sagesse lightly.

History

El Hekmeh, the club's Arabic name, was founded in 1943. The basketball program was later initiated in 1992 and quickly rose up the ranks to be one of the best teams in Lebanon.

In total, Sagesse has won 8 league championships, including a string of titles in the early 2000s.

Those were certainly the high times for the club as they were also able to win three FIBA Asia Champions Cup titles (1999, 2000, and 2004), making them the winningest club in the competition up until this day.

This upcoming season will be the first WASL - West Asia season for Sagesse and they will definitely be targeting to expand they success at this stage, too.

Emblem

 

Homecourt

Al Wahdaa play their home games at the Ghazir Club Stadium in Ghazir.

Path to FIBA WASL

Sagesse finished third in the 2022–23 Snips Lebanese Basketball Championship season. They replaced Dynamo Lebanon in the 2023–24 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) season.

 

Group A

0/12 games played

		GAMES				STREAK	GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	Last 5	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Shahrdary Gorgan	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Al Naft	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Al-Ittihad Ahli	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0
4	C.S. Sagesse	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0

In the Group Phase, Sagesse are set to face Shahdary Gorgan from Iran, Al Naft from Iraq, and Al-Ittihad Ahli from Syria.

Players to Watch

The name of the game for Sagesse is energetic youth. They are led by upstart national team head coach Jad Al Hajj and spearheaded by some of the brightest and best young players in the country: Aziz Abdel Massih, Karim Ezzeddine, Marc Khoueiry, and Omar Jamaleddine.

23-year-old Jamaleddine had an impressive debut in WASL last season with Beirut Club, averaging 7.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game, before his move to the Green Castle for season 2.

Omar Jamaleddine, WASL - West Asia season 1

There will also be some veteran leadership to guide the ship as well in Ahmad Ibrahim and Rodrigue Akl, two players who have a decent share of experience between themselves to offer. Akl, in particular, is a World Cup and Asia Cup veteran and also played in WASL - West Asia for Beirut Club last season.

The team will be packing quite a punch as well in their foreign player rotation. From Tunisian and African basketball legend Radhouane Slimane to George Williams, Waverly Austin, and Elijah Thomas, Sagesse fans can rest assured that their team won't be easy to take down.

 

FIBA