Hayk Gyokchyan

Hayk Gyokchyan
No. 24 – Al Riyadi Club Beirut
Position	Power forward
League	Lebanese Basketball League
Personal information
Born	December 11, 1989 (age 34); Yerevan, Armenia
Nationality	Armenian, Lebanese
Listed height	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight	97 kg (214 lb)
Career information
High school	Conwell-Egan Catholic; (Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania)
College	Franklin & Marshall (2009–2013)
NBA draft	2013: undrafted
Playing career	2013–present
Career history
2013–2014	Homenetmen Beirut
2014–2016	Club Sagesse
2016–2018	Homenetmen Beirut
2018–2021	Al Riyadi Club Beirut
2021–2022	Beirut Club
2022–present	Al Riyadi Club Beirut
FIBA Asia Cup

Hayk Gyokchyan (born December 11, 1989, in Yerevan) is a Lebanese professional basketball player.^[1] He currently plays for Al Riyadi Club Beirut^[2] in the Lebanese Basketball League.^{[citation needed]}

In early 2014 receiving an offer from Homenetmen Beirut B.C., he played briefly in the club, before joining Hekmeh B.C. Homenetmen fans used to boo him for leaving home to play for money in Sagesse/Hekmeh B.C. In 2016, Hayk came back to play for his home club Homenetmen, and then joined another club, Riyadi Beirut.^{[citation needed]}

Gyokchyan is the son of Lebanese-Armenian basketball coach Tigran Gyokchyan.^{[citation needed]}

Personal Information

Nationality: Lebanese, Armenian

Listed Height: 203 cm (6 ft 8 in)

Early life and education

Gyokchyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia on December 11, 1989. He moved to Lebanon at the age of 2. He was granted Lebanese citizenship at the age of 16 in March 2006 by the Lebanese Government with the help of the Lebanese Basketball Federation. In 2006 after the Lebanese Israeli war, he moved to USA where he attended Conwell-Egan Catholic High School in Pennsylvania for his junior and senior seasons. After graduating, Gyokchyan decided to do a postgraduate year at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. He was recruited by Franklin & Marshall College as a student athlete. He graduated from F&M in 2013 with a BA in business, Organizations & Society. He then returned to Lebanon to play professional basketball and has been doing so since 2013.

Basketball career

Junior Career

Gyokchyan represented the junior national team from 2006 till 2008 during which time Lebanon qualified for the World U18 Championship for the first time in history in 2006.

College Career

Gyokchyan was a 4-year player at Franklin & Marshall College.

Professional Career

In 2013, Gyokchyan returned to Lebanon to play professionally. He started with Homenetmen Beirut his rookie season. He finished as a top 10 scorer among the locals which earned him a 2-year deal with Sagesse at the conclusion of the season. He then inked a 2-year deal with Homenetmen Beirut. During his second year, Gyokchyan was the MVP of the Arab Club Championship held in Morocco. He was a major contributor for the club's first ever championship in the LBL beating Al Riyadi 4–3. He then moved to Al Riyadi in 2018. Gyokchyan signed for Beirut Club for the 2021–2022 season during which he was the MVP of the regular season. He then went back to Al Riyadi.

National Team

Because Gyokchyan obtained Lebanese citizenship after the age of 16, Hayk was not able to represent the senior national team in official FIBA competitions. However, due to emotional ties to the country and having played in Lebanon all his career and living in the country almost all his life, FIBA granted him eligibility to play for the national team in November 2021.