the next iranian basketball superstar...

He's 7-5, 260 pounds, with a 8-foot wingspan. He turned eighteen less than a week ago. He’s a shot blocker with a soft shooting touch. He comes from Iran, and he can grab the rim flat footed and dunk on his tippy-toes!

The natural reaction to “from Iran” is, “So he can’t play, right?” But he can. He’s still raw but not as raw as you might imagine.

Jaber Rouzbahani has been playing basketball for less than four years. He played Yao Ming in an Asian Tournament last year and held him to 15 points. (About half of what Yao was averaging in the tournament.) He also played at the (19-under) World Junior Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece last summer in front of NBA scouts averaging 12 points and 8 rebounds per game and an eye opening 7 blocks, leading the entire tournament.