Wael Arakji

Wael Arakji (Arabic: وائل عرقجي; born 4 September 1994) is a Lebanese basketball player for Lebanese Basketball League club Al Riyadi Club Beirut and the Lebanon national team. He is nicknamed "the Fearsome" (Arabic: الرهيب, romanized: al-rahib).[1]

Wael Arakji
No. 16 – Al Riyadi Club Beirut
PositionPoint Guard
LeagueLebanese Basketball League
Personal information
Born (1994-09-04) 4 September 1994
Beirut, Lebanon
NationalityLebanese
Listed height192 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Listed weight90 kg (198 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2015: undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2019Al Riyadi Beirut
2017–2018→ Beijing Royal Fighters
2020Al-Shamal
2021US Monastir
2021–2022Al-Jahra
2022Beirut Club
2022–presentAl Riyadi Club Beirut
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lebanon
FIBA Asia Cup
Silver medal – second place2022 Jakarta
Arab Basketball Championship
Gold medal – first place2022 Dubai

At the club level, he also played in the Chinese Basketball Association and participated in the NBA Summer League for the Dallas Mavericks in 2019. For the national team, Arakji won the MVP award at the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup, where Lebanon finished runners-up.

Professional career

Born in Beirut, Lebanon,[1] Arakji caught the eye of head coach of Al Riyadi Beirut, Slobodan Subotić, following his performances with Lebanon at the 2012 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship.[1] During his seven seasons with Al Riyadi in the Lebanese Basketball League, Arakji won four league titles and the FIBA Asia Champions Cup in 2017.[2] In 2015 he declared for the NBA draft, but was not selected.[1]

In 2018, Wael played for Beijing Royal Fighters in the Chinese Basketball Association.[3] During that five-game stint, he averaged 16.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.4 steals.[1] In 2019, he got an opportunity to play for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Summer League.[4]

In 2020, Arakji helped Al-Shamal win the Qatari Basketball League. He started the 2020–21 season with the same club and helped them reach the final of the league averaging 26.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.7 steals in 14 games.[1]

In 2021, Arakji won the Championnat National A with US Monastir in Tunisia, and reached the final of the Basketball Africa League.[5] He was named to the 2021 All-BAL First Team.[6]

In September 2021, Arakji joined Al-Jahra in Kuwait.[7] On 6 March 2022, Arakji signed with Beirut Club for his return to the Lebanese Basketball League after three years.[8] He helped Beirut win the championship, after defeating his former club Al Riyadi Beirut in the final.[1]

National team career

In 2012, Arakji made his debut by helping Lebanon finish in seventh place at the 2012 FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship.[1]

Arakji helped Lebanon win the 2022 Arab Basketball Championship, winning the final against Tunisia 72–69,[1] and was nominated MVP of the tournament.[9] He also finished runner-up of the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup as the tournament's MVP and top scorer,[10] with an average of 26.0 points per game.[11]

Played with the national team in FIBA world cup 2023.

Awards and accomplishments

Al Riyadi Beirut

US Monastir

Al-Shamal

Beirut Club

Lebanon

Individual

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played  MPG  Minutes per game  FG%  Field goal percentage
 3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game
 PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high     Led the league
Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012–13 Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut LBL 2110.2.450.333.4001.61.8.6.02.7
2013–14 Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut LBL 229.9.333.095.6671.01.3.8.01.8
2014–15 Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut LBL 3319.8.532.286.8062.62.7.8.16.9
2015–16 Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut LBL 3522.2.472.288.7502.43.2.8.16.7
2016–17 Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut LBL 1925.1.580.280.6333.84.61.2.29.8
2017–18 Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut LBL 2629.7.492.327.7104.06.31.3.013.1
2017–18 Beijing Royal Fighters CBA 534.8.431.136.7204.87.21.6.016.6
2018–19 Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut LBL 2526.5.511.425.8123.24.41.0.112.5
2019–20 Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut LBL 234.1.360.200.0002.04.01.0.010.0
2020–21 US Monastir BAL 622.6.707.40.8672.63.41.4.015.0

References
  1. Ghazi, Hussien (July 24, 2022). "وائل عرقجي .. مسيرة مع النجومية قادته لأفضل لاعب بكأس آسيا" [Wael Arakji “The Terrible” .. A career with stardom led him to the best player in the Asian Cup]. alaraby (in Arabic). Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  2. "Al Riyadi are the kings of FIBA Asia champions cup 2017". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  3. "Wael Arakji agrees to terms with Chinese club". cbssports.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  4. "Mavs off to a great start on day one of summer league workouts". Mavs.com. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  5. "New signings dominate Basketball Africa League teams' latest moves". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  6. @theBAL (June 4, 2021). "The All-BAL First Team. ⭐" (Tweet). Retrieved June 6, 2021 – via Twitter.
  7. "Lebanese basketball star Wael Arakji moves to Kuwaiti Jahra". Tellerreport.com. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  8. Madwar, Ahmad (March 6, 2022). "Beirut Club inks Wael Arakji, ex Jahraa". Asia-basket.com. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  9. "Lebanon's Arab Basketball Championship stars receive heroes welcome from fans in Beirut". Arab News. February 18, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  10. "عرقجي أفضل لاعب في أمم آسيا للسلة". كووورة. July 24, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  11. TheSportsGrail; Dilta, Abhishek; Dilta, Abhishek (July 24, 2022). "FIBA Basketball Asia Cup 2022 Final Winner, Australia vs Lebanon Live Score, Results, Prize Money 2022, Awards Winners List". The SportsGrail. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
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