For 40 minutes of game time, Lourawls Nairn, Jr. and Youssef Khayat were locked in an intense battle on the hardwood while representing their respective countries.
Before and after, however, the Bowling Green State University men’s basketball members took time to appreciate the magnitude of the moment.
Nairn, an assistant coach for BGSU and a guard for the Bahamas’ national team, and Khayat, a junior for the Falcons and a forward for Lebanon, squared off against each other in a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament semifinal in Spain. The opportunity to go head-to-head on a worldwide stage was significant for the duo, as well as the BGSU program.
“That was a very special and unique moment, just thinking maybe in basketball history, I don’t know if it’s happened before where a coach is playing and representing his country, period, but then also don’t know if it’s ever happened where a coach is playing against somebody he coaches,” Nairn said. ‘So that moment [after the game], we talked about that moment being able to swap the jerseys and being it’s big for his country, it’s big for my country, but also it’s big for Bowling Green. The recognition that Bowling Green can get from it, and has been getting from it, has been amazing.”
“So that was a very, very special moment.”
Nairn’s Bahamas squad, led by NBA players Deandre Ayton (24 points and 15 rebounds), Buddy Hield (19 points and 10 assists), and Eric Gordon (13 points), used a big start and withstood a Lebanon comeback to post an 89-72 win. Nairn started and had two rebounds and one assist in 12 minutes, while Khayat, who helped Lebanon turn a 20-point second-quarter deficit to just five early in the fourth quarter, also started and tallied nine points and three rebounds in 24 minutes.
“Obviously, we didn’t get the win like we wanted, but it’s all part of the game. They were simply better than us, but we had a great game,” Khayat said. “I thought we battled so well.
“We were down five with [seven] minutes to go, but unfortunately, we just couldn’t keep our momentum going. But it was a great moment and seeing him do well is great for him.”
Nairn said he and Khayat had an opportunity to chat and hang out before the game, but once they got on the floor, they were all in on doing what they could to help their respective teams win.
Khayat, meanwhile, said it was “a little bit weird at first” going up against one of his coaches, especially since both started the game. But it was a “lovely” moment for him as well.
“Obviously, we played a lot in the summer leading up to the tournament. We played a lot of pick-up games together, so it was kind of a full-circle [moment],” Khayat said. “So kind of funny, but at the same time, I wanted to represent myself the best way possible and I wanted to go beat him, simply. Unfortunately, he won the game, and I give him props because he did well and he helped his team win.”
Taking a picture with each other’s jersey after the game was “by far the coolest moment I’ve had on a basketball court,” according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, from Nairn.
“Even the coaches from the Bahamian national team were like ‘You guys have got to get the picture like right after the game. … This is too huge of a moment for Bowling Green basketball,’” Nairn said. “The moment was amazing because I don’t know if it’s happened in basketball history before, and anytime you get a chance to be a part of history, it’s definitely special.”
Back in northwest Ohio, the rest of the Falcons’ team had opportunities to watch Nairn and Khayat, especially in the group phase when Bahamas went 2-0 and Lebanon 1-1 to reach the semifinals.
“I think everyone’s just excited for people they care about,” BGSU coach Todd Simon said. “To see them doing great, and we kind of pride ourselves in having a hoops family as our program, so it was neat to share and root on people you care about.
“It was just a sense of pride to know how hard both [Khayat and Nairn] have worked for their country and how much it meant to them to represent their country as one of the best to ever come out where they’re from. Just seeing how much work they put into this, and to see it come to fruition and then ultimately collide on the other side of this world in this game of basketball is a pretty cool thing.”
For Nairn, the tournament experience and playing with so many high-level players was “surreal.” With a trip to the Paris Olympics on the line, Bahamas put up a strong showing in Sunday’s tournament final against European power Spain, but came up just short in an 86-78 loss.
Khayat had a solid stretch in helping Lebanon make a tournament run, as well. The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 12.7 points and five rebounds in three games; his best performance was a 20-point, six-rebound outing in an opening loss against a Spain team that is filled with current and former NBA players.
“It doesn’t get better than this for my country, and representing my country here, I’m super proud of myself,” Khayat said. “It’s some of my best memories playing basketball, just playing my high level against very high-level players, and then proving myself here. I’ve just got to keep on working hard.”
Nairn and Simon were both impressed by what Khayat did on such a big stage, and they are excited about what he can provide to a BGSU squad looking to build off an exciting 2023-24 campaign.
“To be a young guy and be a starter on your national team is extremely hard to do,” Simon said. “That’s the same level as LeBron [James] and Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and all these guys, and Spain is full of NBA players and all that. To be a starter and a key figure on Lebanon and take them, I think, as far as they’ve ever gone as a country is a testament to just how good of a player he’s going to be for us.”
Added Nairn: “Yo Yo, he’s a special talent. He has unbelievable size and has an unbelievable skill set and ability to shoot the ball, and he’s a very great rebounder. But he can score, and he wants to win, he’s a competitor. It’s amazing to see him play with confidence and things like that. But we know at Bowling Green, we know what he can do, and that’s why we recruited him so hard to come to Bowling Green because we know how special of a talent he is. So I was glad to see him play really well on this big stage.”
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