AMMAN (Jordan) - It has been exactly a decade since FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2014 in Doha, Qatar and many of the players have continued to develop from that competition, emerging into the stars of today.
Here, we take a blast through the past and check out the alumni from that U18 Asia Cup class.
Qi Zhou (China)
Arguably one of the best Asian centers of the modern era, Qi Zhou put his dominance on display early on at the youth level - even if the U18 Asia Cup 2014 was his second time playing in the competition. After starring in the U16 Asia Cup, U17 World Cup, a previous U18 Asia Cup, and U19 World Cup in consecutive years, he led China to a third straight U18 Asia Cup title in 2014 with averages of 13.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 71.4 percent from the field.
From there, Zhou went on to be a staple of the senior national team as well. He was an Asia Cup champion in 2015 while also being named to the All-Star Five - which he was also awarded again in Asia Cup 2022. At the professional level, Zhou has been a superstar right from his first season in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) where he was named Rookie of the Year playing for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers all the way through stops playing in the NBA with the Houston Rockets and Australia's NBL playing for the South East Melbourne Phoenix. He's currently playing in the CBA where he was a champion in 2017.
Minghui Sun, Rui Zhao (China)
The 2014 squad was the last team to win the U18 Asia Cup for China and seeing the talent littered across the roster, it's easy to see why they were able to do so. Aside from the megastar that is big man Qi Zhou mentioned above, China had a dynamic backcourt of Minghui Sun and Rui Zhao.
Zhou was indeed China's biggest star, but it was Zhao and Sun who led the team in minutes played. Zhao was the scoring guard, leading the team in points (15.7 per game) and three-pointers made (19). Meanwhile, Sun led the team in minutes played (24.2 per game), assists (4.6 per game), and steals (2.1 per game).
Zhao has gradually become China's primary choice at the guard position in the recent years. While he made his senior national team debut in FIBA competitions throughout the World Cup 2019 Qualifiers, it was at Asia Cup 2022 where he made a big presence by averaging 10.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. At the recent World Cup 2023, he averaged 12.6 points per contest - second on the team. Zhao was a three-time CBA champion with the Guangdong Southern Tigers and was coincidentally traded for Zhou Qi last year to end up with the Flying Tigers.
Sun also made his presence felt with the senior national team at around the same time, notably at Asia Cup 2022 where he led all players in the competition in average assists (7.0 per game) while also scoring 9.2 points per game. While he hasn't been able to win a CBA title like Zhao, Sun has had a star-studded CBA career so far as well with the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions which includes Finals and All-Star Game appearances.
KyoChang Song (Korea)
Korea are one of the most successful teams in the history of the U18 Asia Cup and they added a third-place finish in 2014. One of their key players that year was KyoChang Song. He ended up scoring 9.8 points per game, highlighted by 17 points against the Philippines.
He'd later shine even brighter at the U19 World Cup, leading the team with 16.5 points per contest. His head-turning performance was an explosive 40-point performance in a 16-21 field-goal shooting against Serbia.
Following his impressive run at the youth level, Song then took the leap from prep-to-pro, joining the Korean Basketball League (KBL) straight out of high school. He was drafted 3rd over all in 2015 for KCC Egis. From there, he's been named Most Improved Player (2017), All-Defensive (2018), All-KBL First Team (2020, 2021) and league MVP (2021). Song finally won his first KBL title in 2024, earning he and KCC Egis a spot at the recent Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia).
With the senior national team, Song made his FIBA Asia debut during the Asia Cup 2022 Qualifiers and played in his first major tournament at the Asia Cup itself.
Hamad Hasan (Kuwait)
Kuwait are making a return to the U18 Asia Cup for the first time in 10 years, reminding us all to see if there will be another Hamad Hasan this year.
Hasan averaged a double-double of 20.5 points (second among all players) and 10.3 rebounds per game in Qatar, including 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists against Kazakhstan. He'd quickly made a senior national team debut the year after in Asia Cup 2015, putting up 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in China.
Now, Hasan is still a key part of the senior national team (most recently at the Asia Cup 2025 Pre-Qualifiers where he averaged 14.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game) as well as experiencing much success in club competitions. Hasan has consistently averaged at least 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game across two seasons with Kuwait Club in the FIBA WASL - Gulf League - both seasons ending up as champions.
Abdulrahman Saad (Qatar)
The hosts were able to finish the competition on a string of three straight wins to finish 9th and they were shouldered by their super-scoring guard Abdulrahman Saad.
It didn't take too long for him to introduce himself as Saad dropped 40 piece in his very first game - a win against India. He's also record 35 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals against the Philippines, 36 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals, against Kuwait, and another double-double of 31 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals against Jordan. In total, no one else came close to his scoring average of 27 points per game that year.
He's another player who made the leap to play in Asia Cup 2015 in his senior national team debut and continues to be a key part of the program.
FIBA