"Yao Ming but the female version": College hoops world impressed with 16-year-old Chinese star Zhang Ziyu's highlight reel

Zhang Ziyu, the 7-foot-5 center playing for the Chinese national team, is taking over the internet with her physique and performance at the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup. The 16-year-old dropped 19 points, with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks in the 109-50 win over Indonesia on Monday.

Standing tall in the post, Zhang went 9-for-9 from the field in just 13 minutes while coming off the bench in her FIBA debut.

Fans in the comments immediately compared her to Yao Ming, a Chinese basketball legend who was the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft and went on to have a successful pro career.

"Yao Ming but the female version. Hope she comes over to the @WNBA," one fan wrote.

"I don’t even wanna watch this. If I was the opposing coach, I’d throw my clipboard after 4 possessions lol," one user joked.

Some fans made predictions for her potential WNBA debut.

"Her WNBA stats 100 ppg, 50 rpg, 20 bpg," another joked.

"WNBA about to finally make profits in the coming years," one user predicted.

"Keep her away from Purdue Mens Basketball," one fan joked, pointing out Purdue's tradition of recruiting tall players.

Another fan reacted with a meme of LSU coach, Kim Mulkey, jokingly suggesting that she was on her way to recruit Zhang Ziyu:

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Zhang Ziyu's first tryst with fame

Zhang Ziyu first went viral as a 14-year-old when she was playing in China's National U15 Women's Basketball League final, capturing the attention of Chinese netizens on Weibo, China's version of X. She scored a whopping 42 points in the game and took 25 rebounds along with six blocks.

She drew comparisons with Chinese NBA legend Yao Ming then as well, with many saying that the future of Chinese women's basketball relies on her. Hailing from Shandong, a coastal province in Eastern China, Zhang was reported to be 5-foot-2 as a first grader in elementary school and reached 6-foot-9 by sixth grade, as per USA Today.

Zhang comes from a basketball family. Her mother, 6-foot-4 Yu Ying, played for the Chinese national women's basketball team and is reported to be the coach of Shandong’s provincial women’s basketball team as per Yahoo! News. Her father, who is 6-foot-9, is also reported to be a professional basketball player.

What do you think of Zhang Ziyu and her potential in the pro-leagues? Let us know in the comment section below.