Jeremy Lin (Image: Getty)
The new Asian University Basketball League is the first-of-its-kind college basketball organization that will launch this summer in Asia.
The CEO of AUBL, Jay Li, has two goals for the new basketball league: to bring together colleges across Japan, China and Korea and add another layer of development that could produce the NBA’s next Asian superstar.
“We are not just an Asian basketball league,” Li told ESPN. “We could be the centerpiece of youth talent development for the entire world when it comes to developing Asia’s next Yao Ming, Asia’s next Jermey Lin.”
This league has the backing of multiple investors, including Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty owner Joe Tsai. The AUBL will play its first game in August, Li told ESPN after announcing that the AUBL raised the initial funding to move forward with the basketball league.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.
The league will host a tournament featuring a group stage and a knockout round for 12 elite Asian college basketball programs, culminating in a final four and a championship. The AUBL will play a full schedule next year that will include road and home games.
Li stated that college basketball has the potential to grow rapidly in Asia, where there are more than one billion fans. Li said that he was receiving calls from places around the world, including Australia, to participate in the league.
“In Europe, the pipeline of young talent is very strong, but the commercial value of basketball is lagging behind there, right?” Li told ESPN. “That’s why the NBA they’re trying to start a new league there, but in Asia, actually, the basketball talent is now growing really fast. We want to see more [talent] coming from Asia.”
Li said that the AUBL will increase the number of Asian players in the NBA because it will centralize the college basketball landscape in Asia and make the process for scouting NBA talent more efficient.
Jakob Butturff, an eight-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion who called Arizona home, died unexpectedly…
The San Francisco 49ers have confirmed that wide receiver Ricky Pearsall will undergo season-ending surgery…
Dillon Brooks has never been shy about the rivals he's made around the NBA, but…
Billy Ray Smith Jr., the College Football Hall of Fame linebacker who became one of…
Taysom Hill's nine-year run in the New Orleans Saints is over. The versatile utility man…
The WNBA found itself in an awkward spot Wednesday night after posting — and then…