Li Yongwei said that his biggest change may be in defense after playing abroad for almost a year.

“When I was attached to Tsinghua University before, my attack was stronger than my defense. Now, my defense is the same as the attack.” He said, “When I was in Australia, the coach asked me to defend the best player on the opposite side. I liked this feeling. Players with balanced attack and defense are scarce, and only good defense can have enough playing time.”

Li Yongwei, born in 2004, became famous young. He was the main defender in the top campus team of Tsinghua affiliated high school men’s basketball in China and once led the team to win the Championship of Chinese high school basketball league. He, who is 1.97 meters tall, has been selected into the U series National team several times and is regarded as the star of hope for Chinese basketball. In November 2021, Li Yongwei went to the American League elite planning training camp in Australia. In May this year, he went to Real Salt Lake College in the United States to attend senior four and continue to pursue his basketball dream.

“Being alone and away from home, I have grown a lot in mind and spirit, including my ability to take care of myself, interpersonal communication, communicating with people in English and so on, all of which have made progress.” Li Yongwei said, “in terms of study, online courses are the main courses. I try my best to keep my grades at B + or A.”

Li Yongwei told reporters that in Australia and the United States, his basketball training time every day is between one and a half hours and two hours, which is not too long. However, the training arrangement is very compact, the coach has very strict requirements on details, and every link is not allowed to make mistakes. In addition, in terms of defense training, more attention should be paid to the multi-person and team defense close to actual combat.

“In Australia, there were three or four high-intensity defensive exercises for one hour every week. At the beginning, after training, the inside of my ankle was swollen and bruised. I didn’t have such intensity before.” He said.

The training in Australia is very systematic. There are physical training, rehabilitation training and shooting tests every week. Each player has to finish 2500 shots a week and has a corresponding ranking. Li Yongwei was proud that he held the first place on the field goal percentage list for a long time and broke the original record with a hit rate of 87%.

Li Yongwei was born in a family with strong sports atmosphere. During his six years in primary school, he participated in football training every Monday to Friday and played basketball with his parents on weekends. Although he showed outstanding offensive talent during his study in the Affiliated High School of Tsinghua University, and he also had a performance of scoring more than 30 points in a single game, his primary orientation was to become an excellent passer.

“First I am a passer, then I am going to score and defend. I hope everyone will regard me as a player who is good at teamwork, not a selfish player.” Li Yongwei said, “I also like to pass the ball on the football field. Football and basketball are actually very similar. You need to find your teammates on the court, but the basketball court is smaller and it is easier to do this.”

Li Yongwei revealed that the months when he just went abroad were the hardest. At that time, he missed his friends and family very much and did not know when he would have the chance to go home. The coach used English when training in the team. He couldn’t fully understand it at that time. He was very anxious every day and then gradually adapted to it.

“It is also good to be abroad. The cities I live in are relatively quiet, which can make me focus more on basketball and training. When you are in Beijing, you will have more time to go out with friends.”

Li Yongwei believes that genius comes from diligence. He said that if you want to have a good performance in the game, you must practice harder at ordinary times.

“I will practice very hard in the first two months of the competition, so that the competition can be played and I can’t cram temporarily. I will finish the exercises in the team according to quality and quantity, do my best in every action, and then practice myself.”

At home, there are not too many No. 1 and No. 2 players of the height like Li Yongwei, but his physical condition is not prominent abroad. Li Yongwei said that there are too many players who can run and jump in the United States, but some physical disadvantages can still be made up by training. In his view, if his physical ability can be further strengthened and he can truly achieve full attack and defense, he still has the opportunity to go up step by step.

At present, Li Yongwei has received an invitation from Portland University, and Cornell University and Stanford University have also contacted him. He hopes to start to experience in the first-class League of American college students next year, and the subsequent development will go with the flow.

“My development will still focus on basketball, first play basketball well.”

Li Yongwei frankly said that as a defender, it is very difficult to enter the US league, but he will go for his dream. Even if you don’t succeed, you will find a professional league that suits your ability and level.

“When there is a chance, I hope I can serve my country. I will retire in the future, and I also want to be a basketball coach. I like basketball and hope to do things related to basketball all the time.” Li Yongwei said.

Related news: media person: Chinese teenager Yan Li Yongwei received an offer from NCAA first-class Portland University

(WEN/Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Jingyu)