Junior Mens Begin Prep

(Toronto, ON) - Canada Basketball has announced the 22 athletes participating in the tryout by invitation camp and team staff for the Junior Men’s National Team (JMNT). This is the first step as the JMNT prepares for the 2011 U19 FIBA World Championship in Latvia. The tryout camp will run from June 10 – 12, 2011 at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario.

This marks the first time since 1996 the National Team Program will hold camp at the world class facilities at Laurentian University. This partnership continues to build the relationship between Canada Basketball and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), which will further integrate all levels of basketball from coast to coast. The Voyageur athletic staff is among the top administration staffs in the CIS, which includes former National Team member, Shawn Swords, who serves as the Men’s Basketball Head Coach.

“Canada Basketball and Laurentian University have a long history together of former coaches and players. Training camps were routinely held in Sudbury with the last one being the Women's team in 1996,” says Swords. “It is our pleasure to get back to our roots and assist the National Team Program. We feel very privileged to be able to host this talented group on our beautiful campus and look forward to continuing our partnership with Canada Basketball.”

Canada qualified for the 2011 U19 FIBA World Championship by claiming the bronze by defeating Argentina last summer at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men in San Antonio, Texas. They are one of 16 teams to qualify for the World Championship, which will take place from June 30 – July 10 in Liepaja and Riga, Latvia. The JMNT will face tough competition in the preliminary round as they have been assigned to Group B, which includes Croatia, Lithuania and Korea.

This marks the 7th time the Canada has qualified for the tournament, and tenth time that FIBA will host a competition for this age group. Canada’s highest finish was 6th in 1987 in Bormio, Italy. In the last FIBA U19 World Championship in Auckland, New Zealand in 2009, Cory Joseph (Ajax, ON), Tristan Thompson (Brampton, ON) and Kelly Olynyk (Kamloops, BC) led Canada to a 7th place finish.

The invitation list includes 10 athletes who represented Canada last summer on the international stage as part of the National Team Program. Attending camp are Kevin Pangos (Holland Landing, ON) and Andrew Wiggins (Concord, ON) who helped guide Canada to the bronze medal at the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship, where Pangos was also named the top point guard of the tournament. Pangos enjoyed a successful final year of high school at Dr. John Denison (Newmarket, ON) taking the Huskies to the AAA OFSAA Championship game and also represented Canada at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon. Wiggins led Vaughan Secondary School (Vaughan, ON) to the AAAA OFSAA gold medal and also competed in the Jordan Brand Classic International Game, where he was named co-MVP.

Other invited athletes who represented Canada last summer include Sim Bhullar (Brampton, ON), Julian Clarke (Toronto, ON), Duane Notice (Woodbridge, ON), Olivier Hanlan (Gatineau, QC), Negus Webster-Chan (Scarborough, ON), Junior Lomomba (Longueil, QC), Dyshawn Pierre (Whitby, ON) and Philip Scrubb (Vancouver, BC).

Following training camp, the JMNT will participate in the International Youth Global Games tournament in Lithuania as a tune up tournament for the World Championship. Games will be hosted in Panevezys, Lithuania, from June 25 – 27. Canada will play Latvia on June 25, Australia on June 26 and Brazil on June 27. Game summaries will be posted on www.basketball.ca..

Below are the JMNT tryout by invitation camp details and a complete list of team staff and athletes invited to compete for a position on the JMNT.

For more information on Team Canada and the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship, please visit www.basketball.ca. or www.latvia2011.fiba.com.


2011 JUNIOR MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM TRYOUT – INVITED ATHLETES

Name	Position	Height	Hometown	School
Braxston Bunce	F	6’11	Kelowna, BC	Kelowna Secondary School
Sim Bhullar	F	7’4	Toronto, ON	Huntington Prep
Julian Clarke	G	6’3	Toronto, ON	Santa Clara (NCAA)
Stefan Cvrkalj	G	6’4	Kitchener, ON	Bluevale Collegiate Institute
Justin Edwards	G	6’2	Whitby, ON	Anderson CVI
Olivier Hanlan	G	6’2	Gatineau, QC	New Hampton
John Hegwood	G	6’4	Calgary, AB	Bishop Grandin High School
Stefan Jankovic	F	6’9	Mississauga, ON	Huntington Prep
Marek Klassen	G	6’0	Abbotsford, BC	Point Loma Nazarene University (NAIA)
Matt Letkeman	F	6’7	Abbotsford, BC	University of Calgary (CIS)
Junior Lomomba	G	6’4	Montreal, QC	Madison Memorial
Naz Long	G	6’1	Mississauga, ON	Findley College Prep
Duane Notice	G	6’2	Woodbridge, ON	St. Michael’s College
Dyshawn Pierre	G	6’6	Whitby, ON	Anderson CVI
Jean Pierre-Charles	G	6’7	Ottawa, ON	Ashbury College
Philip Scrubb	G	6’4	Richmond, BC	Carleton University (CIS)
Justin Shaver	F	6’6	Ottawa, ON	John McCrae Secondary School
Jarryn Skeete	G	6’2	Brampton, ON	Wasatch Academy
Nick Stauskas	G	6’6	Mississauga, ON	St. Mark’s
Negus Webster-Chan	G	6’7	Scarborough, ON	Huntington Prep

2011 JUNIOR MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM STAFF

Name	Position	Hometown
Greg Francis	Head Coach	Edmonton, AB
Pete Guarasci	Assistant Coach	Kelowna, BC
Shawn Swords	Assistant Coach	Sudbury, ON
Dean McCord	Team Manager	Calgary, AB
Minh Nguyen	Athletic Therapist	Ottawa, ON
John Philpott	Team Doctor	Toronto, ON

2011 CANADIAN JUNIOR MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM Tryout Schedule (June 10 – 12)
Luarentian University - Sudbury, Ontario

Training Day	Training Time	Location
Friday, June.10	9:00 am - 11:30 am 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm	Laurentian University
Saturday, June.11	9:00 am - 11:30 am 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm	Laurentian University
Sunday, June.12	9:00 am - 11:30 am	Laurentian University