I’ve wondered about Ainhoa for a while now. She comes from a talented family and has a complete package of skills in a long frame. Will she go straight to the pros or would she consider playing D1 ball first?
As for Zhang Ziyu, she is a package of paradoxes. Too big to stop, but perhaps too slow to want to build a team around. She’s something over 7’ tall, though exactly how much taller is unclear. Maybe as much as 7’3”. Last summer, the PRC team led by Ziyu rolled through the FIBA summer tournament crushing all opposition… until they encountered Australia and lost in the finals.
I think Ziyu was 17 at the time and she was in tears after the game. She seems to be quite child-like at heart. Kids like her can suffer from all sorts of pressures, like loneliness and bullying, and the PRC tends to take a proprietary interest in some of their athletes which can also be oppressive. Li Yueru is an example of this. Big kids can be vulnerable to stuff like this. Lauren Betts has talked about her own experiences with stuff like this.
In any event, I doubt very much Ziyu will play any college ball in the U.S.