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Canada basketball
Canada Basketball

Twenty-one Canadians selected as top prospects for Basketball Without Borders Americas

Twenty-one Canadians will be competing against the best in the Americas.

The selected Canadians represent 63 players  announced on Wednesday as the top high-school-age prospects from across Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean who will take part in the 12th edition of Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Americas, which will be held June 22-25 at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, Que.

Patricia Augustin, Alex-Anne Bessette, Alexia Bujold, Deborah Damoah, Lea Rose Denis, Camille Gaudreau, Abigael Levasseur, Olivia Leung, Anastasija Veljovic, Taylor Williams and Nyadieng Yiech make up the 11 players on the girls roster. Isaiah Spencer, Dante Censori-Hercules, Babatunde Durodola, Justus Haseley, Dylan Homenick, Mikhail Jerbic, Torian Lee, Romogi Nyagudi, Anthony Ponga and Char Yeiy represent the 10 players from Canada on the boys roster. Yeiy suited up for Canada at the FIBA U16 Men's Americas Championship 2021.

The campers will be coached by Canadian NBA players Chris Boucher, Luguentz Dort and Bennedict Mathurin.

Dort and Mathurin, who attended their respective BWB camps in 2017 and 2020, will join Boucher and fellow NBA player Chuma Okeke, a long list of NBA assistant coaches and fellow NBA player Chuma Okeke, as well as Toronto native and Raptors 905 head coach Eric Khoury as BWB Americas 2023 coaches. Fellow Canadian Katia Sanon, who is the Raptors 905 assistant athletic therapist, will serve as the camp’s athletic trainer.

Last year, nine Canadians attended the camp. Cassandre Prosper was named the BWB Americas 2022 Most Valuable Player on the women's side, while fellow Canadian Nogbou Tadjo earned Defensive MVP honours on the men's side.

Canadians Jamal Murray, Andrew Nembhard, RJ Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Eugene Omoruyi joined Dort and Mathurin as a part of the 38 former BWB campers to star on opening-night rosters during the 2022-23 season.

Prosper, Toby Fournier and Merissah Russell are among alumnae on the women's side.

BWB Americas 2023 will be supported by Nike, a global partner of BWB since 2002, which will outfit participants with Nike apparel and footwear, and Gatorade, which will keep players and coaches hydrated throughout the camp.

BWB, the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program, has reached more than 4,000 participants from 135 countries and territories since 2001, with 106 former campers advancing to the NBA or WNBA. The NBA and FIBA have staged 68 BWB camps in 45 cities across 32 countries on six continents.