A Legendary Start: The Military College Basketball Team (1949-1950) This photograph, dating back roughly seventy-four years, captures the Military College Basketball Team of 1949-1950. At the time, I was a newly enlisted student in the freshman class. This very group would later go on to form the greater part of Iraq's elite basketball legacy. Featured in the photograph (from right): Standing: Anwar Mahmoud Taha, Hadi Yas, Midhat Said, Ali Al-Ashqar, Kanaan Al-Azzawi, Hatem Hassan, First Lieutenant (1st Lt.) Abdal-Majeed Al-Amiri, Captain (Capt.) Hamid Qadir Al-Samarrai (Sports Officer). Seated: Nouri Ismail, Nashat Maher, Abdal-Jabbar Al-Salihi, Yousif Taher Al-Wahab.