TORONTO, ON (August 18, 2017) - Canada Basketball's Men's High Performance program is pleased to announce the 19 athletes who will attend the Senior Men’s National Team training and selection camp at the BioSteel Centre in Toronto from August 19-24.

“We are excited to begin our journey to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 with the first test being the FIBA AmeriCup 2017,” said Roy Rana, Head Coach. “We are thankful for the opportunity to represent our country, look forward to competing for an Americas Championship and build towards November with an even deeper pool of talent.”

Rana will be joined by assistant coaches Craig Beaucamp, Jack Sikma, Michael Meeks and Nathaniel Mitchell.

The FIBA AmeriCup 2017 will be played from August 25 to September 3, 2017 and brings together America's best 12 men's national teams.

Canada will be part of Group B in Bahía Blanca, Argentina and will take on the United States Virgin Islands on August 27 before facing Argentina and Venezuela to conclude the group phase. The top team in each group will advance to the Final Four of the FIBA AmeriCup 2017.

“The FIBA AmeriCup 2017 is an opportunity for the program to assess our athlete pool and identify players to potentially join the team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers in November,” said Jay Triano, Senior Men’s National Team Program Head Coach.

Following the FIBA AmeriCup 2017, Canada's pursuit of a FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 berth will continue with the 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.  Each team will compete against the other three teams on a home and away basis with Canada hosting the first game against Bahamas in Halifax, NS on November 24, 2017.

Canada's men are currently ranked 8th in the Americas and 24th globally.

Tryouts and training are closed to the public. Media are invited to post-practice scrums on the following dates. Please RSVP to mwalker@basketball.ca.

Practices will take place at the BioSteel Centre (20 British Columbia Rd, Toronto, ON).

MEDIA AVAILABILITIES

Sunday, August 20
1:45 p.m. Gym Opens
2:00 p.m. Availability

Tuesday, August 22
2:15 p.m. Gym Opens
2:30 p.m. Availability

Thursday, August 24
1:45 p.m. Gym Opens
2:00 p.m. Availability

*All times are EDT and subject to change

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For more information, contact:

Matt Walker, mwalker@basketball.ca

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