Lebanese Players Train in Türkiye to Elevate Their Basketball Careers
In a quiet gym in Eskisehir, far from the noise of Beirut and the glamour of Istanbul, two young Lebanese players are trying to change the course of their careers.
They didn’t come through an agent. They didn’t arrive via a federation program. They typed a few words into a search bar, scrolled through social media, and found a coach.
From search results to a six-day grind
Mariam Jomaa, 22, the point guard of the Lebanese national team and a player for Beirut First Club in the Lebanese Women's Basketball League, and 21-year-old center Razan Thebian of Tadamon Zouk in Lebanon's Women's Basketball Second League, chose Eskisehir as their preseason battleground.
They had options. Istanbul. Izmir. Bigger cities. Bigger names.
But when their research kept pointing them toward Eskisehir and a coach named Ali Ihsan Kucuk at Eskisehir Kaplanlari Sports Club, they trusted the process and booked the trip.
For Kucuk, this was new territory.
It was the first time players from abroad had contacted him specifically to come to Türkiye to train under his watch. No middlemen. No club-to-club arrangement. Just two players who believed a different basketball culture could sharpen their game.
“They said they had researched coaches in Europe and believed they used different techniques and had strong knowledge. They wanted to come to Türkiye, and after searching online, they found me and said they wanted to work with me,” Kucuk explained.
A European-style workload in central Türkiye
With roughly a month to go before their domestic seasons tip off in Lebanon, Jomaa and Thebian committed to a demanding schedule: six days a week, daily sessions lasting around two to two and a half hours.
The structure is simple. The work is not.
Kucuk has built the program around athletic performance, shooting and fundamental skills, layering in defensive and offensive organization as the days go by. The sessions are designed to strip their game back to basics, then rebuild it with more precision and intensity.
He has been struck by what they bring to the floor: energy, determination, and a clear hunger to absorb every detail.
The feedback from the players tells its own story. Jomaa admitted that parts of the training program were completely new to them, exposing weaknesses they hadn’t even realized were there. Thebian echoed that sentiment, highlighting how different approaches in Eskisehir have opened their eyes to fresh ways of working.
The pressure of the sessions is deliberate. They wanted this.
Drawn by Türkiye’s basketball reputation
Their decision to come to Türkiye was not random. It was rooted in respect for the level of competition.
“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,” Jomaa said, summing up the logic behind the trip.
For players coming out of Lebanon, Türkiye represents both a benchmark and a potential gateway. The leagues are stronger, the infrastructure is deeper, and the style of play is more demanding. For ambitious talents, it is both a testing ground and a dream destination.
In Eskisehir, that dream feels a little closer.
Both Jomaa and Thebian have made it clear: this is not just about returning to Lebanon in better shape for the new season. It is also about planting a flag. They are openly interested in continuing their basketball careers in Türkiye one day.
For now, the reality is more modest—two young women, a near-empty gym, a coach pushing them through another two-hour block of drills and repetitions.
But somewhere between the shooting routines, the conditioning work, and the tactical breakdowns, a bigger question hangs in the air: will this month in Eskisehir be remembered as a preseason camp, or as the starting point of two careers that outgrew their borders?
