Canada Basketball – TORONTO, ON (November 14, 2017) – Canada Basketball’s Men’s High Performance Program is pleased to announce the preliminary list for the first window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers in Halifax and Dominican Republic.

The Scotiabank Centre in downtown Halifax will host the first Senior Men’s National Team home game as Canada opens the qualifying process on Friday, November 24, 2017 against Bahamas with tip-off scheduled for 8:00 pm AST.

Tickets for the event are on sale now through Ticket Atlantic and start from as low as $10 for students and youth.

After leading Canada at the FIBA AmeriCup 2017 in Argentina this past summer, head coach Roy Rana is back behind the bench for the first of two FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers windows (November 2017 and February 2018).  Joining Rana for the will be assistant coaches Michael Meeks, Jack Sikma, Dave Smart and Nathaniel Mitchell.

“We are excited and honored to begin our journey towards the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China,” said Roy Rana, Head Coach.  “This group of young men embody the passion and sacrifice needed to be successful in international competition.”

“I admire their commitment to Canada and I hope all Canadians will support us loudly in Halifax and across the country,” Rana said.

Following Friday’s game, Canada will travel to Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic for a showdown against the 17^th ranked team in the world.  Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 PM from Arena del Cibao Oscar Gobaira.

Canada’s pursuit of a FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 berth begins with the aforementioned Americas Qualifiers where 16 teams will compete for seven World Cup spots.

Canada will face Bahamas, Dominican Republic and the United States Virgin Islands in Group D with each team facing the other three teams on a home and away basis.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Qualifiers will see 80 countries do battle over a 2-year period to qualify 31 national teams for the top national team competition taking place from August 31-September 15, 2019.

Canada’s Senior Men’s National team is currently ranked 8^th in the Americas and 25^th globally.

Training camp is closed to the public.  Media are invited to post-practice scrums on the following dates. Please RSVP to mwalker@basketball.ca.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY

Tuesday, November 21
2:15 p.m. Gym Opens
2:30 p.m. Availability

Wednesday, November 22
2:15 p.m. Gym Opens
2:30 p.m. Availability

Friday, November 24 
1:25 p.m. Gym Opens
1:30 p.m. Availability

*All times are AST and subject to change

The full staff list, roster and schedule can be found below. Follow Canada Basketball on Twitter for game streaming details and live game coverage.

2017 SMNT NOVEMBER WORLD CUP AMERICAS QUALIFIER PRELIMINARY LIST

First Name	Last Name	DOB	Height	Position	Hometown	Current Club
Richard	Amardi	1990-10-16	6’9″	F	Toronto, Ont.	Raptors 905 (G-League)
Jermaine	Anderson	1983-03-08	6’2″	PG	Toronto, Ont.	Free Agent
Joel	Anthony	1982-08-09	6’9″	C	Montreal, Que.	Free Agent
Olu	Ashaolu	1988-04-18	6’7″	PF	Toronto, Ont.	Sendai 89ers (Japan)
Anthony	Bennett	1993-03-14	6’8″	F	Toronto, Ont.	Northern Arizona Suns (G-League)
Aaron	Best	1992-01-09	6’4″	SG	Scarborough, Ont.	Raptors 905 (G-League)
Sim	Bhullar	1992-12-02	7’5″	C	Toronto, Ont.	Dacin Tigers (Taiwan)
Melvin	Ejim	1991-03-04	6’7″	F	Toronto, Ont.	Unics (Russia)
Joel	Friesen	1990-08-16	6’4″	SG	Abbotsford, B.C.	London Lightning (NBL of Can)
Grandy	Glaze	1992-03-04	6’7″	C	Toronto, Ont.	St. John’s Edge (NBL of Can)
Olivier	Hanlan	1993-02-15	6’4″	SG	Aylmer, Que.	Austin Spurs (G-League)
Brady	Heslip	1990-06-19	6’2″	SG	Burlington, Ont.	Trabzonspor (Turkey)
Kris	Joseph	1988-12-17	6’7″	SF	Montreal, Que.	Free Agent
Kaza	Keane	1994-01-27	6’1″	PG	Ajax, Ont.	Raptors 905 (G-League)
Levon	Kendall	1984-07-04	6’10”	PF	Vancouver, B.C.	Free Agent
Owen	Klassen	1991-10-31	6’10”	C	Kingston, Ont.	PAOK (Greece)
Duane	Notice	1994-09-07	6’2″	SG	Woodbridge, Ont.	BM Slam Stal (Poland)
Adika	Peter-McNeilly	1993-04-17	6’3″	SG	Toronto, Ont.	Ludwigsburg (Germany)
Dyshawn	Pierre	1993-11-17	6’6″	SF	Whitby, Ont.	Banco di Srd (Italy)
Xavier	Rathan-Mayes	1994-04-29	6’3″	PG	Scarborough, Ont.	Westchester Knicks (G-League)
Phil	Scrubb	1992-11-27	6’3″	PG	Richmond, B.C.	Fraport SKY (Germany)
Thomas	Scrubb	1991-04-08	6’6″	SF	Richmond, B.C.	Scandone AV (Italy)
Marc	Trasolini	1990-06-21	6’9″	C	Vancouver, B.C.	Hokkaido L. (Japan)
Warren	Ward	1989-11-16	6’6″	G/F	London, Ont.	Caceres (Spain)

2017 SMNT STAFF LIST

Name	Position	Hometown
Roy Rana	Head Coach	Toronto, ON
Michael Meeks	Assistant Coach	Brampton, ON
Jack Sikma	Assistant Coach	Kankakee, Illinois
Dave Smart	Assistant Coach	Kingston, ON
Nathaniel Mitchell	Assistant Coach	Toronto, ON
Rowan Barrett	Assistant GM/Executive VP	Mississauga, ON
James DePoe	Team Manager	Toronto, ON
David Grundman	Team Manager	Toronto, ON
Dr. John Philpott	Team Doctor	Miramichi, NB
Samuel Gibbs	Athletic Therapist	Toronto, ON
Jason Meehan	Athletic Therapist	Toronto, ON
Charlie Weingroff	Strength and Conditioning Coach	Newark, NJ
Dipesh Mistry	Video Coordinator	Markham, ON
Phil Jevtovic	Performance Analyst	Toronto, ON
Matt Walker	Communications Manager	Ancaster, ON
Peter Jensen	Sports Psychologist	Toronto, ON

2017 SMNT SCHEDULE

	DATES	LOCATION
Training Camp	November 20-November 23	Halifax, NS, Canada
Bahamas vs. Canada	November 24	Halifax, NS, Canada
Travel to Dominican Republic	November 25	Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Training	November 25-November 26	Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic
Canada vs. Dominican Republic	November 27	Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic

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