Ali Haidar (basketball)

Mohamed Ali Haidar (Arabic: علي حيدر, born in Lebanon on 20 July 1990) is a Lebanese-Canadian basketball player for Beirut Club of the Lebanese Basketball League (LBL).[1]

Ali Haidar
No. 11 – Beirut Club
PositionPower forward
LeagueLBL
Personal information
Born (1990-07-20) 20 July 1990 (age 33)
Qana, Lebanon
NationalityLebanese / Canadian
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High schoolJ.L. Forster Secondary School
(Ahliah School)
CollegeMichigan Tech (2009–2013)
NBA draft2013: undrafted
Playing career2013–present
Career history
2013–2018Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut
2018–2019Beirut Club
2019–2020Champville SC
2019Saskatchewan Rattlers
2019–2020Al Wehdat Club
2020–2022Dynamo Club Lebanon
2022–presentBeirut Club
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lebanon
FIBA Asia Cup
Silver medal – second place 2022 Jakarta
Arab Basketball Championship
Gold medal – first place 2022 Dubai

Career edit

Haidar born in Qana, Lebanon to Mohammad and Mona Haidar. He has four brothers and two sisters. He immigrated with his family to Canada in 2006, where he studied at J.L. Forster Secondary School in Windsor, Ontario, playing starting 2006–2007 season in the high school's Forster Spartans basketball team.[2]

Upon graduation from Forster, he was offered a scholarship at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, USA specializing in an engineering double major starting 2010 while playing for the MTU Huskies basketball program playing in the GLIAC (GLIAC) in NCAA Division II.[citation needed]

In Lebanon edit

The Lebanese Basketball Federation invited Haidar for summer tryouts in June 2011. He was one of 25 players competing for 12 spots on the national team. He had his international debut playing in a regional tournament in Jordan, representing Lebanon.[3]

Between 2013 and 2018, he played professionally in the Lebanese basketball club Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut. In 2018, he moved to play for Beirut Club.[citation needed]

In the 2021–22 season, he moved to Dynamo Beirut to reach the Final Four and went back to Beirut Club in the 2022–23 season, having the chance to play in Al Wasl Tournament.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ Michigan Tech Huskies website: Ali Haidar page[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Canada.com Haidar takes care picking U.S. school Archived 23 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Ian Marks in Michigan Tech Magazine: A Star from the East (Winter 2011)
  4. ^ "Haidar, Hayes power Beirut Club in home win over ZobAhan". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 25 December 2022.