Lebanese Basketball Prospects Train in Türkiye

In the quiet of a preseason lull, two Lebanese basketball prospects chose movement over comfort.

With about a month left before their domestic leagues tip off, national team point guard Mariam Jomaa, 22, and center Razan Thebian, 21, packed their bags and flew to Eskisehir in central Türkiye. No club deal. No official camp. Just a plan built off a social media search and a belief that they needed more.

They were looking for tougher work, sharper edges, a higher standard. They found Turkish coach Ali Ihsan Kucuk and decided that was enough.

From online search to six-day grind

Jomaa and Thebian had scoured the internet for options. Istanbul, Izmir, Eskisehir — different cities, different coaches, different possibilities. They read, watched, compared. Eskisehir kept coming up. So did Kucuk.

When they finally reached out, it was a first for the coach: foreign players contacting him specifically to come to Türkiye and train under his watch.

Once they arrived, there was no easing in. The pair committed to a six-day-a-week schedule, each session running around two to two and a half hours. The focus: athletic performance, shooting, and the fundamentals that separate potential from production. Defensive and offensive organization layered on top.

Kucuk has been struck by more than just their skill set. What has stood out is their energy, their drive, the way they attack each drill as if a roster spot depends on it.

Chasing a higher level

For Jomaa, who runs the offense for Beirut First Club in the Lebanese Women's Basketball League, the purpose of the trip is simple: return home better than she left.

She knows where Türkiye sits in the basketball landscape. Its women’s leagues are strong, its clubs well regarded. That reputation pulled her and Thebian north.

“We wanted to train better and improve ourselves. We knew that Türkiye has some of the best basketball leagues, so we decided to come here,” she said, outlining a mindset that goes beyond a short training block.

The online research that led them to Kucuk has already paid off. Several elements of his program are new to them — fresh drills, different emphases, unfamiliar demands. Some have exposed gaps they did not know existed in their games. That is exactly what they came for.

New tools, new ambitions

Thebian, who plays for Tadamon Zouk in Lebanon's Women's Basketball Second League, has felt the same jolt. The work in Eskisehir has introduced new approaches, new ways to think the game, not just play it.

Both players speak of satisfaction with the sessions, but also of something more ambitious. This is not just a tune-up before the Lebanese season. It is a test run.

If the opportunity arises, both have made it clear: they would like their basketball journeys to continue in Türkiye.

For now, the reality is simpler — two young players, far from home, grinding through six-day weeks in an Eskisehir gym. The question is no longer why they came.

It’s how far this decision might take them.