Youssef Khayat: A home-grown talent raised in Lebanon and developed in France

BEIRUT — Amid the multiple crises in Lebanon, the country’s basketball team is a rare success story, recently beating Tunisia to win the Arab Nations Basketball Championship in Dubai.

Usually, one of the secret ingredients to such success in Lebanese sports is the naturalization of a foreign player on the team, as FIBA regulations allow one player on a country’s team to be a naturalized citizen. Lebanon has a long history of recruiting American players such as Joe Vogel and the late Jackson Vroman to its national team after granting them Lebanese citizenship.

But this time around, the team's star is a departure from this system: Youssef Khayat, at 19 years old and standing 6’7 — making him both younger and taller than most of his teammates — is a homegrown talent. He was born and raised in Beirut but has been living in France for the past four years, after being recruited by French team Limoges CSP.

Khayat darts across the court, stealing the ball from his opponents to dunk. His signature move is the floater, a shot that looks like an overhand layup.

He started playing basketball when he wa...
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