Pay attention to this player on the university stage, Chung-Ang University Kang-Hyun Lee

 Men’s and women’s professional basketball is off-season. During this period, amateur teams compete fiercely. Among them, more attention is paid to college players who are putting all their energy into the pros. Here are some of the standout players on the college stage. Let’s meet Lee Kang-hyeon, who is at the center of Chung-Ang University’s propaganda.
※This article was published in the June issue of Jumpball, a basketball magazine, and the interview was conducted in mid-May.

My first relationship with basketball
I was interested in basketball because I was tall in middle school, but I didn’t know how to start professionally. The mother of an elite athlete was running the gym I visited by chance. Thanks to a lucky situation, he introduced me to basketball in my first year of middle school. At first, even to my eyes, my skills were lagging behind. When I first started playing basketball, I had a lot of passion, so I worked out without stopping. I bounced the ball while other players were resting, and I tried to make up for what I lacked by exercising in the morning before class.

In high school, where he developed his shooting ability,
he gained experience while playing games since his second year in middle school. Even after entering Whimoon High School, Lee Doo-won and Lee Dae-gyun were unable to participate due to punishment, so I was lucky enough to participate. The coach also believed in me a lot, and I worked hard and played as the main axis and experienced victory.
In middle school, I only played basketball based on my physical ability and height, but it was different when I went up to high school. He thought that he should not just play and develop his strength and shooting ability. He was selected for the U-16 national team, but after training and sticking with other players, they were players who knew basketball. He started lifting weights because he didn’t want to do it like he did in middle school, so he paid attention and practiced shooting a lot to create an advantage.
If he was mainly playing under the goal in middle school, he came up to mid-range in high school. He tried to change. He believed that a shot should be able to be thrown from any position, so he continued to practice whenever he had time. He thought that he had to throw a lot to feel it, so he touched the ball a lot. Even after he went home, he would lie down and shoot, and he would go out to the gym and try to equip the shot while throwing. He thought and practiced that when he was young so he can use his shooting ability as one of his strengths and as a weapon on the college stage.

Left hand training
When I was in middle school, my coach (Cha Dong-il) gave me a lot of left hand training. Since he didn’t know how to look cool, he practiced hard on his left and right-handed under-the-goal shots as instructed. Learning that way helps. It’s not as good as the right hand, but it doesn’t seem like I can’t use my left hand at all.

3.6 → 9.7, improved rebound
Last year, when I was a sophomore, I was in a low grade, and Jung Sung-hoon, Park In-woong, and Moon Ga-on jumped in and grabbed the rebound well. When I boxed out, I used to concede the rebound to my older brothers who jumped in. Even in 3rd grade, that kind of thing came out habitually. The coach (Yang Hyung-seok) said, ‘Don’t give in and grab the rebound actively’. I realized then. It seems to have improved a lot because he was in the senior year, not the lower grade, and he cared about the rebound with the thought that he had to catch it as a big man.

Outstanding scoring ability
Last year, I didn’t play as a starting pitcher because I had older brothers with strong offense. He was confident of scoring though. He didn’t play for long, so he prepared from the bench. Because he is confident, he scored the moment he entered the court, so he came out efficiently. This year, compared to last year, the proportion has increased and the scoring ability has improved. Last year, the proportion of seniors was high, so the rest of the players were less active. However, he is not an incompetent player. There were many people who expected that Chung-Ang University’s power would drop after the fourth graders graduated. Everyone has their own abilities, and players from all grades told us that we should work together. Personally (in my sophomore year), personally, when my older brothers were doing well, I went in for a while and attacked, but now that I am in my senior year, I take advantage of my strengths and play shots, post plays, and things that are difficult for opponents to block, so I think good results come out.

In 2022, 12 people were selected from the university for strengthening training for fostering excellent players
at the university and trained to the extent of playing against professional brothers. That was great. There are many things to learn even if you only train at school, but there is a big difference in meeting other hyungs in other places and receiving guidance from another coach (Cho Sang-hyun, national coach). As I got closer to the players I gathered with and learned from each other, I gained confidence, and it became an opportunity to make up for what I lacked there by returning to school. (When I was in my freshman year of college) I couldn’t play many games and was wandering around because of an injury, so I was grateful that I was selected for such a position. At that time, it became a good opportunity to find confidence and look back on myself.

When it was announced that the Korea-Japan University Basketball Tournament
would be held, I was personally greedy (to be selected for the national team). Because I know how valuable this experience is. He was lucky to be selected and worked out with his older brothers. He had great older brothers, but he thought he couldn’t win the game if he fell behind. Yangjun, Lee Gyu-tae, and I were in the back row, and I talked a lot with them. The national team gathered players with scoring power who were the aces of each team. Unlike the role I used to play at school, there are many players who can do everything here, so I worked hard on dirty 안전놀이터work and rebounding, and I got good results by playing the game as a team. It was good to see Japanese individual skills that

I directly encountered .
I thought it was only the guards, but as the game progressed, the big man also threw well outside shots, had good dribbling skills, and was quick. Even the power was good. Personally, it was different from playing against Korean players. There are parts where I had a hard time. When I hit it directly, it was different. Centers also felt that it is good to have excellent individual skills.

What do you want to improve on the college stage?
If you listen to the stories of the older brothers who went pro, they say that the biggest difference is the weight. So, the goal is to supplement the weight. I wanted to expand my range of activities since middle school. As a pro, he has to make a 3-point shot, so he wants to practice little by little and improve to become a pro. He is not lacking in his shooting ability, so he can always throw a 3-pointer from the perimeter. He has a desire to play better on defense. I am confident in the defense I hold on to, but the number 3 (small forward) defense is a little lacking. In the game against Japan, when the big man dribbled, he had a hard time defending, so I felt it a lot. There are players like this in the pros, so I think I need to supplement them, and I have to work hard. I think supplementing the outer defense is the first thing.

BONUS ONE SHOT
Manager Yang Hyeong-seok says Lee Kang-hyun
is a very sincere player. He has a very good mid-range shot for his height and position. He can’t be said to be very good at weight, but he doesn’t get pushed in a physical fight. He’s gotten a lot better at post ups too. As he progressed through his senior year, his scoring ability improved as he gained more responsibility in the position. A little weak on defense. He would be a little better if he could keep him in check from that part to the outskirts.