Youssef Khayat 2nd in Asia Cup with Lebanon, ready for Michigan
Future Michigan basketball forward Youssef Khayat and Lebanon finished second in the FIBA Asia Cup last week. The Lebanese team rallied from a 14-point deficit after three quarters in the championship game with Australia, but fell just short in a 75-73 loss.
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Khayat, 19 years old, was playing with much older and experienced players. The Michigan pledge had been playing in France before accompanying his home country in the FIBA event, where he averaged 5.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game in 14.5 minutes.
Lebanon made the semifinals for the first time since 2009, beating China and New Zealand for the first time ever on the way. Khayat played more in the earlier rounds, notching his best game in a 104-63 win over India. He scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, making two of his five triples in the contest. Those would be his last two makes from long range, however. He went 0-for-3 in his next three games, finishing at 27.3 percent.
The future Michigan Wolverine shot 40.7 percent for the tournament (11-for-27) and made seven of nine free throws in his six games (77.8 percent). He made three of four in notching three points, a rebound and an assist in an 86-85 semifinal win over Jordan, playing eight minutes.
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The Michigan frosh-to-be missed his only shot and notched one rebound in seven minutes during the finals loss to Australia.
Khayat is still working on his visa to be eligible to play in the United States. His first face-to-face interaction with the team will take place on the Michigan overseas tour next month. The Wolverines will visit France and Greece and play exhibition games in both countries, including the cites of Paris and Athens.
He’s excited to start learning from Michigan head coach Juwan Howard in his next chapter.
“For me, he’s one of the best coaches in basketball,” Khayat said of the Michigan coach on a recent podcast. “Just being able to learn what he has to say and from his experience in the NBA. He played lots of years in the NBA and won championships, was an all-star. He has everything I want to learn from.”
