Bonding on both sides of the ball

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In a never-before-seen initiative, all players at the camp entered a mixed draft following the round-robin phase, where each of the four coaches selected a reshuffled team from the blended pool to play in the knockout round.

Opponents became teammates, as coaches switched benches, with each new unit gelling quickly together, despite the language barrier and different styles of play.

"It's challenging, but a lot of fun at the same time," said Settimo Yugu, a Bella Vista forward, who joined seven Chinese peers on a new team renamed "Truth" coached by Veritas mentor George Zedan.

"It took some time, but once we got the chemistry going, there wasn't much of a bump in communication. The game itself speaks its own language," said the 17-year-old all-rounder, who scored game-high 38 points in the final to help Team Truth win the tournament.

The exposure shed immediate light on China's own talent, with 16-year-old prospect Zhang Yuchen confirming right after the tournament that he will be joining Bella Vista next month and play in the US high-school league.

Having followed Zhang's game since he represented China at the FIBA U17 World Cup in June, Bella Vista's head coach Matt Gordon said watching him play in person only backed up his staff's confidence in the teen talent.

"I am really excited for him to join us in a month," Gordon said after the tournament. "We try to build a relationship with the basketball community in China, and we are looking forward to opening a pathway to get kids from there to play with us."

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