After winning the 2013 East Asian Basketball Championship and the 2014 Incheon Asian Games basketball tournament that were both held in Incheon, the Korean Basketball Association (KBA) is determined to continue the country’s winning ways at home. The hosts will field a strong team in the 2015 World University Games that will be held in Gwangju from July 3 to July 15, 2015.
The basketball team is deemed as the strongest in South Korea’s universiade basketball squads to date. The pool is composed today’s top young talents from the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and the stars of the Korean University Basketball League from their respective schools.
Kim Jong-Kyu (Changwon LG Sakers)
Lee Seung-Hyun (Goyang Orions)
Hur Ung (Wonju Dongbu Promy)
Kim Junil (Samsung Thunder)
Lee Jae-Do (Busan Sonicboom KT)
Jeong Hyeo-Geun (Incheon ET Land Elephants)
Lee Jong-Hyun (Korea University)
Choi Joon-Young (Yonsei University)
Cheon Ki-Bum (Yonsei University)
Moon Seonggon (Korea University)
Kang Sang-Jae (Korea University)
Lee Dong-Yeop (Korea University)
Choi Chang-Jin (Kyung-Hee University)
Kim Dong-Hee (Chosun University)
Han Sang-Hyeok (Hanyang University)
Han Hee-Won (Kyung-Hee University)
Yoo Young-Hwan (Konkuk University)
An Young-Jun (Yonsei University)
Lee Dae-Hyun (Dongguk University)
Leading the team is the Asian Games gold medalist pair Kim Jong-Kyu and Lee Jong-Hyun. Kim is the LG franchise’s corner-stone. Lee Jong-Hyun is recognized as the top bigman in the KUBL and has recently declared for the NBA draft. Both are expected to anchor South Korea’s front-court for many years to come.
The Universiade also reunites rivals into a national cause. Lee Seung-Hyun an alumni of Korea University that graduated this year was the first pick overall of the 2014 KBL draft by the Goyang Orions. Lee’s rival, Kim Junil is a product of Yonsei University and selected as the second pick overall after Lee by Samsung. Rivals since college, their rivalry continues in the KBL as both young men were named 2014-2015 co-Rookies of the Year. “We are both very competitive and I’m proud to share this honor with Kim (Junil),” said Lee on his acceptance speech during the KBL awards night held late in April. “I try to work hard on my game, knowing Lee (Seung-Hyun) is also working very hard to be a great basketball player,” said Kim in response. Now, both men are once again teammates as they place their rivalry aside to compete against other countries.
Continuing the Korean University – Yonsei rivalry, KU’s Moon Seonggon teams up with his rival scorer, Choi Joon-Young of Yonsei. Both have been teammates with the national team in 2013 during the EABC championship and the FIBA Asia 2013 tournament held in Manila. Both have made great strides for the past two years. Moon Seonggon has made his shooting much more sharper and worked hard on his defensive game. Choi meanwhile has evolve into a multi-faceted player aside from being a scoring threat; highlighted by his 25 rebounds performance against Dongguk last week.
To further highlight the Korea University – Yonsei rivaly, the pool features a number of players from both schools. Kang Sang-Jae made a name for himself when he was shooting unbelievably accurate against the world’s best during the 2013 FIBA U19 championships. Lee Dong-Yeop is another upcoming point guard that is drawing comparison to Kim Tae-Sol of Jeonju KCC Egis. Not to be outdone by Dong-Yeop, Cheon Ki-Bum has played in the U16, U18 and the U19 national teams of Korea where he is now being compared to a younger version of the great Yang Dong-Geun. After Cheon, Yonsei’s future is in good hands with the superb sophomore, Ahn Young-Jun known as the versatile forward, a combination of skill, speed and strength.
The universiade team also showcases stars from other school that will soon graduate and make their mark in the KBL. Kyung Hee’s 1-2 punch of Choi Chang-Jin and Han Hee-Won adds scoring options on the wings. Kim Dong-Hee, Yoo Young-Hwan and Han Seong-Hyeok are shooters to go along the flanks of the team’s bigmen.
The pool also features Hur Ung, another Yonsei product. He is the son of the legendary player, Hur Jae. Fresh off a KBL finals game where Hur Ung’s game four stand was well recorded, Hur was sent by his team to the United States to train and further refine his skills. Another exciting prospect is Incheon’s Jeong Hyeo-Geun, a versatile forward that plays both the four and the three. His progress helped Incheon upset Seoul SK in the first round of the playoffs and then forcing Wonju Dongbu Promy into a deciding game 7. While the team is full of scorers and shooters, Lee Jae-Do of Busan is known as a rugged defender and his quick ball-handling. Lee has infused much hope for Busan’s back-court after being paired with Cho Sung-Min.
As other players are well known, Lee Dae-Hyun has been overlooked by so many. But that is changing this season as his emerging double-double game is starting to get noticed as he improved his physique and conditioning since his freshman year. The progress was noticed and Lee’s name was called up for the universiade.
South Korea was drawn in Group A that includes Estonia, Germany, China, Angola and Mozambique. In group D, the United Sates will be represented by the Kansas Jayhawks who produced NBA stars such as Paul Pierce, Kirk Hinrich and Andrew Wiggins.
Sakerland 