"Wow": Armenia national team star Anto Balian shares his excitement as he gets featured in the news 

Anto Balian, a Class of 2025 prospect, made history as the first Armenian national to commit to the Division 1 program, joining the Pepperdine Waves. Balian announced his commitment on Instagram on Dec. 7. The Pilibos High School player has turned heads with his performances for the Los Angeles, CA school.

The 6-foot-3 combo guard received well-deserved recognition during a segment on KCAL News Sports Central. He shared the clip on his Instagram story, further celebrating his achievement:

Armenia national team star Anto Balian shares his excitement as he gets featured in the news (Credits: IG/@anto.balian24)

"Wow 🙏🙏. If you missed it tune in at 10:45 KCAL news for the rerun of the segment later today," Balian captioned the story.

Balian also talked about playing for the Eagles with his father, Sako Balian, as the coach:

"It's been a dream of mine because I've grown up in this system of my school, Pilibos. I mean before I entered high school, I'd seen 10 years of other players, other teams I looked up to, and they all spoke so good about him," Balian said. [0:48 - 1:01]

He continued, "How well of a coach he is, all that, obviously, he's my dad and all that so I was excited but also I felt like I have something I had to carry with me because he's my dad and this is his program and I want to make something out of it." [1:01 - 1:13]

Anto Balian also talked about the Armenian community and said that he wants to be remembered as "the person who revolutionized Armenian basketball:"

"Armenian kids, we don't get the opportunity too much to show that we could really play basketball, we could play on a big stage and when one of us makes it, it's unbelievable for the community. I want people to always remember me as the person that revolutionized Armenian basketball and I'm going to live by that." (2:54 - 3:10)

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Anto Balian reflects on special bond with teammates

The Armenian national was in Pilibos High School since his preschool years. Furthermore, most of his teammates have been his friends since childhood. Balian spoke to Yahoo about the bond he shares with the Eagles' teammates:

“You’re more than friends,” Anto said. “You know them like your parents. It becomes a family, especially in the Armenian community, where everyone knows each other.”

While his latest stats are unknown, Balian averaged 27.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per contest in his sophomore year in 2023.

Anto Balian will join coach Ed Schilling's side next season.