Zhang Zhenlin (; born 28 January 1999), or Kevin Zhang, is a Chinese professional basketball player for the Liaoning Flying Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the Tulane Green Wave.

Early life and high school career

Born in

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

, China, Zhang grew up watching National Basketball Association (NBA) players

Steve Nash Stephen John Nash (born 7 February 1974) is a Canadian professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 18 seasons in the NBA, ...

and LeBron James and aspired to play basketball in the United States. In 2013, at age 14, he joined the United States Basketball Academy in Blue River, Oregon upon the advice of his mother's friend, Bruce O'Neil. Zhang spoke no English at the time. In his first three years of high school, he played for La Lumiere School in LaPorte, Indiana, where he played with top recruits

Jaren Jackson Jr. Jaren Walter Jackson Jr. (born September 15, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans. He was select ...

and

Brian Bowen Brian Bowen II (born October 2, 1998) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League. He originally committed to play college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals but was suspended by the ...

. Over three seasons at La Lumiere, he helped his team to a combined 82–7 record and the 2017 High School Nationals title. As a senior, Zhang played for

Montverde Academy Montverde Academy is a private PK–12 school in Montverde, Florida, United States. History The school was founded in 1912 as Montgomery Industrial School. The school president was Henry P. Carpenter. It underwent a major expansion in 1921, whe ...

in Montverde, Florida, helping his team achieve a 35–0 record and win High School Nationals. At the National Prep Showcase in November 2017, he scored 25 points and had five three-pointers against New Hampton School. He was friends with Montverde teammate RJ Barrett, the number one recruit in the 2018 class. On 13 April 2018, Zhang played for Team World at the Nike Hoop Summit. Five days later, he committed to play college basketball for Tulane over offers from UCLA, BYU, DePaul and Kansas State, among other NCAA Division I programs. He was rated a three-star recruit by major recruiting services.

College career

On 11 November 2018, Zhang made his freshman season debut for Tulane, leading his team with 24 points and seven rebounds in an 80–69 loss to 15th-ranked Florida State. After hyperextending his elbow on 8 December versus South Alabama, he sat out his next game against Texas Southern and was limited by the injury in many of his following games. On 13 January 2019, Zhang scored a season-high 25 points in an 83–79 loss to Memphis. As a freshman, he averaged 6.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 22.5 minutes per game. Tulane finished with a 4–27 record, losing all 18 of its conference games, and Zhang was one of two players to return for the following season amid a roster and coaching overhaul. On 4 January 2020, as a sophomore, he scored a season-high 15 points, converting on all five of his three-point attempts, in a 76–71 upset win over Cincinnati. Zhang finished the season averaging 5.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game.

Professional career

On 19 October 2020, Zhang made his professional debut for the Liaoning Flying Leopards of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), recording 13 points and 11 rebounds in a 121–108 win over the Tianjin Pioneers. On 8 March 2021, Zhang scored a career-high 46 points and 9 rebounds in a 124-115 win over Guangdong Southern Tigers.

National team career

Zhang joined the US national basketball team for training camp in preparation for the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 FIBA World Ch ...

but did not make the final roster. Zhang was selected into the final roster of US National Basketball Team competing for the FIBA Asian Cup 2021 Qualifiers. He was included in China's squad for the

2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification process will determine 30 of the 32 teams that will participate at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. As co-hosts, the Philippines men's national basketball team, Philippines and Japan men's nat ...

, and had his debut national match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 28 November, 2021.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Tulane , 30 , , 16 , , 22.5 , , .354 , , .295 , , .757 , , 2.4 , , .8 , , .4 , , .4 , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;", Tulane , 30 , , 19 , , 19.2 , , .410 , , .324 , , .696 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .6 , , .6 , , 5.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 60 , , 35 , , 20.8 , , .377 , , .308 , , .733 , , 2.3 , , .6 , , .5 , , .5 , , 5.8

CBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, 53 , , 43 , , 32.3 , , .491 , , .385 , , .705 , , 5.6 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 14.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 53 , , 43 , , 32.3 , , .491 , , .385 , , .705 , , 5.6 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 14.2

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 4 , , 35.8 , , .424 , , .314 , , .500 , , 6.2 , , 1.2 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 11.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 6 , , 4 , , 35.8 , , .424 , , .314 , , .500 , , 6.2 , , 1.2 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 11.5

Personal life

Zhang's mother, Wang Fang, played basketball for

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. She won the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) title in 2009 while the head coach of the

Liaoning Flying Eagles Liaoning Zhongda Aluminium Flying Eagles () is a Chinese professional women's basketball club in Liaoning, playing in the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA). Liaoning Zhongda Aluminum Co. has been the team's corporate sponsor since 2015 ...

. Wang was a coach for the Chinese women's team at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

References

External links

Tulane Green Wave bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Kevin Living people 1999 births Chinese men's basketball players Basketball players from Shenyang Chinese expatriate basketball people in the United States Tulane Green Wave men's basketball players Power forwards La Lumiere School alumni Montverde Academy alumni 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Basketball players at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for China Asian Games medalists in basketball