Asian hoops league hopes to produce 'next Yao'

Jay Li has two goals for the new Asian University Basketball League, a first-of-its-kind college basketball organization that will launch this summer on the world's largest continent.

Li, the CEO of the AUBL, hopes to bring together the top colleges across Japan, China and Korea and beyond -- and he aims to add another layer of development that could produce the NBA's next Asian superstar.

"One thing people didn't know about before is, hey, there are a lot of good colleges in Asia that are world-leading institutions, very famous schools, but they also have fascinating basketball programs and there is already an existing following," Li told ESPN. "And the AUBL is really just bringing that to another level.

"And we are not just an Asian basketball league. We could be the centerpiece of youth talent development for the entire world when it comes to developing Asia's next Yao Ming, Asia's next Jeremy Lin."

The league has the backing of multiple investors, including Joe Tsai, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Liberty. The AUBL will play its first games in August, Li told ESPN this week after announcing it had raised the initial funding to move forward with the league.

In August, the league will host a tournament with a group stage and knockout round for 12 elite Asian college basketball programs -- including the University of Hong Kong and Peking University (China) -- that will culminate with a final four and a champion. In 2026, the AUBL will play a full schedule, which will include road and home games.

Li said college basketball can grow rapidly in Asia, where there are more than 1 billion basketball fans. But he said he has also fielded calls from Australia and other places around the globe that want their schools to participate.

"In Europe, the pipeline of young talent is very strong, but the commercial value of basketball is lagging behind there, right?" Li told ESPN. "That's why the NBA, they're trying to start a new league there, but in Asia, actually, the basketball talent is -- without the development [system] -- now growing really fast. We want to see more [talent] coming from Asia."

China and multiple European countries boast their own professional development pipelines that differ from the landscape in the United States, where college basketball has traditionally been the route to the NBA for top prospects.

But the last decade has changed the popularity of the American collegiate scene for elite international talent.

Former Nebraska star Keisei Tominaga, who played on Japan's Olympic team, signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers in 2024 after leading the Cornhuskers to the NCAA tournament that year.

"As a former student-athlete, I appreciate the value of college sports for both participants and their communities," Tsai said in a statement through the league. "In Asian society, top-tier universities are among the most recognized brands, and they easily translate into sports through the spirit of competition between schools. That's why I believe in the AUBL's vision. Asia's growing basketball market, rising talent, and increasing institutional support create the right conditions for a successful collegiate league."

While Yao and Lin were household names who helped grow the game of basketball in Asia, few Asian players have ever competed in the NBA. Cui Yongxi, a two-way player for the Nets, became just the seventh Chinese-born player in the NBA when he entered a game in October.

But Li said the AUBL will increase those numbers because it will centralize the college basketball landscape in Asia and make the process for scouting NBA talent more efficient.

"It's good for the development of the talent," Li said. "So what I see with the AUBL is in the future, I think this is the platform where the NBA scouts will not want to miss out on our games because the next generation of NBA stars will be coming and playing at this platform because we're basically a champion of the best Asian colleges. The best college students from Asia will play in this league. And I think some of them will make it to the NBA."