Nike tournament showcases China's next generation of elite prospects

Li Nan, head coach of China's national basketball team, expects to see the pipeline for elite talent greatly expanded through the nation's academic-heavy school system.

With the NCAA championship game between Virginia and Texas Tech drawing global attention, China's own school showdown was spotlighted in Sunday's Beijing city final of the Nike High School Basketball League, which saw Tsinghua University High School beat archrival Beijing No 4 High School 62-56 in overtime at iconic Wukesong Arena.

Despite being a technically raw game punctuated by fouls and turnovers, the energy generated by 10,000 raucous fans in the packed arena was reminiscent of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics hoops tournament under the same roof.

In the earlier girls' final, Tsinghua defeated Beijing No 35 High School 72-52 to set the winning tone for the boys.

Li said the impressive turnout underlined the potential of the school system for developing future elite talent.

"I was overwhelmed by the vibe in the arena created by these student players and the two renowned schools. It was as electrifying as the atmosphere during the 2008 Olympics," said Li, a sharp-shooting forward on China's eighth-place team at those Games.

"Being able to shine on such a high-profile stage is a privilege enjoyed only by few and will for sure serve as a great inspiration for their future careers if they continue playing the game.

"I hope our own school league system can maintain this level of exposure and develop into a talent pool to feed the elite level as productively as the US collegiate system does."

Li, who was invited by Nike to be an award presenter, is now tasked with leading the national team to glory at the FIBA World Cup, which tips off in eight Chinese cities from Aug 31 to Sept 15.

Team China's top-eight finish at the 2008 Olympics tied its previous best at the 1996 Games in Atlanta and the 1994 world championships (now the World Cup tournament).

In a country where 300 million people are playing the game regularly, Li stressed that sustainable success on the international stage rests on a solid school-based system as a supplement to the shrinking talent supply within the State-run sports system.

However, the pathway from school to the pro leagues remains a long shot in China due to the emphasis on academic excellence in the education sector and the lack of cohesion between the two systems.

Unlike the talent-cultivating system in the US, where pro athletes come from the collegiate ranks, elite players in China are identified early on and selected into the State-run system for training, isolated from ordinary schools.

Without a sound college system as a springboard to the pro ranks, most talented players in China's ordinary high schools must give up their pursuit of a serious sports career in order to focus on the all-important college entrance examination.

However, the likes of retired Chinese Basketball Association player Liu Ziqiu and active CBA All-Star Zeng Lingxu, both graduates of Tsinghua University, have proved the mettle of school-bred players in the professional grind.

During January's CBA All-Star Weekend, a Chinese University Basketball Association select squad beat the league's rookie squad, 90-88, sparking hopes that the top domestic league will soon draft more talent from the collegiate ranks.

"I think skill-wise the gap is narrowing between us and players developed in the pro league's club system," said Qi Lin, a member on Beijing No 4's 2017 high school league championship team.

"Without as much training time as in the State-run system, we need to improve on the quality and efficiency of training, especially in terms of physical conditioning, to be able to handle the pro battle," added Qi, who last year signed with 2016-17 CBA champion Xinjiang Flying Tigers' reserve team as a freshman at Tsinghua University.

Thanks to a memorandum of understanding signed between the CBA and the Ministry of Education's sports division in 2017, more student players registered with the CUBA now enjoy increased training support and scouting attention from CBA clubs.

"The recent examples represent a bright future of eventually building a talent promotion tunnel that connects the grassroots to the elite echelon. I believe it will happen soon," said Zhang Tao, coach of the Tsinghua high school team.