Lebanese Players Train in Türkiye for Basketball Success
In a quiet gym in Eskisehir, far from the noise of Beirut and Istanbul, two young Lebanese players are trying to change the trajectory of their careers.
No agents. No glossy club presentations. Just a social media search, a few messages, and a one-way ticket into the unknown.
From online search to hardwood reality
Mariam Jomaa, 22, the point guard of the Lebanese national team and a key 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, wanted more than a routine preseason.
They wanted to be pushed.
So they went looking for it.
Scrolling through coaches and clubs across Europe, they narrowed their options to Türkiye, drawn by the country’s reputation for tough, organized basketball and strong domestic leagues. Istanbul, Izmir, Eskisehir — they checked them all. One name kept coming back: Ali Ihsan Kucuk, coach of Eskisehir Kaplanlari Sports Club.
They reached out directly. No intermediaries.
Kucuk, used to working with local talent, suddenly had a different kind of request in his inbox. Two international players, unknown to him, asking to fly in just to train.
It was a first.
Six days a week, no shortcuts
With roughly a month left before their leagues resume in Lebanon, Jomaa and Thebian committed to an intensive schedule in central Türkiye. Six days a week. Sessions running two to two and a half hours.
This isn’t a light tune-up. It’s a full reset.
Kucuk has built their program around athletic performance, shooting, and core fundamentals, then layered in defensive and offensive organization. The focus is sharp: clean footwork, sharper reads, better conditioning, more reliable shots.
He has been struck by their approach. The energy. The determination. The way they absorb detail and ask for more.
For Jomaa, the goal is clear. She wants to return to Beirut sharper, quicker, more complete.
“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 the logic that pulled them to Eskisehir.
Thebian echoes the sentiment. The drills, the structure, the demands — many of them are new. They’ve exposed weaknesses the players didn’t fully recognize before arriving, and that’s exactly what they came for.
A window into a different future
This trip is not just about the next Lebanese season. It’s also an audition — not in front of scouts, but in front of themselves.
Both players have been open about it: if the chance comes, they would like to continue their careers in Türkiye. The level of play, the professionalism of the environment, the daily standards they’re now experiencing — all of it points toward a future they want to be part of.
For now, the reality is simpler. An empty gym in Eskisehir. A demanding coach. Two young women chasing a higher ceiling, one drill at a time.
The leagues in Lebanon will start soon. When they do, we’ll see whether this bold detour through central Türkiye was just a preseason experiment — or the first step toward a permanent move into one of the region’s strongest basketball landscapes.
