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The Korea Basketball Association on Wednesday announced the final 12-player list of South Korea's men's national basketball team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup that will take place in China on August 31.
The list goes as follows:
Choi Jun-yong (guard), Heo Hoon (guard), Jung Hyo-geun (forward), Kang Sang-jae (forward), Kim Jong-kyu (center), Kim Sun-hyung (guard), Lee Dae-sung (guard), Lee Jung-hyun (forward), Lee Seoung-hyun (forward), Park Chan-hee (guard), Ra Gun-ah (Ricardo Ratliffe) (forward) and Yang Hee-jong (forward).
Two names on the list deserve more attention than others: Ra Gun-ah, the American-born naturalized forward and Heo Hoon, son of the team's former head coach Hur Jae.
Ra Gun-ah (Ricardo Ratliffe) of the South Korean men's national basketball team during the game against Iran at the 2018 Asian Games, August 30, 2018. /VCG Photo
Ra was in the University of Missouri for his college career before he failed to get selected in the 2012 NBA Draft. Then he went to South Korea and became the first American college player to get selected in the Korean Basketball League where he played for three teams: Mobis Phoebus, Seoul Samsung Thunders and Star Hotshots.
As for Heo, he made his debut in the national team in 2016 and spent the following three years by keep getting better before earning a spot to compete at the World Cup on behalf of his country.
Heo Hoon of the South Korean men's national basketball team handles the ball in the game against Chinese Taipei, June 7, 2017. /VCG Photo
"It is not always an easy time to be on the national team, but has tested my heart and helped me learn a lot from my brothers on the team. It means a lot to me to finally go on the big stage of the World Cup. I would like to show my talents and play my role to the best of my skills," said the 23-year-old guard.
South Korea will send a veteran-laden unit to the World Cup as the average age of their players is 27.8 years old, 35-year-old Yang Hee-jong is the oldest. Meanwhile, the team does not even have a single seven-footer (about 2.13 meters) and their tallest guy is 2.08-meter Kim Jong-kyu. Instead, South Korea collected a lot of swingmen-size players whose heights are around two meters, which matched their traditional character of playing fast.
South Korea are in Group B with Argentina, Russia and Nigeria and they will meet their first opponent Argentina in Wuhan of central China's Hubei Province on August 31.