TORONTO – Canada Basketball announced the athletes that will represent Canada in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men, which will be played in Brazil from June 16th – 20th. Players eligible for this competition must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1994.The Canadian Junior Men’s National Team will be looking to make it the third time in a row they have medaled in this event.

The event serves as a qualifier for the 2013 FIBA World U19 Championship for Men, which will be held in the Czech Republic. For Canada to qualify, they will need to reach the semi-finals in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men. Canada has qualified for the last three FIBA World U19 Championships and is currently ranked 5th in the FIBA Boy’s world rankings.

                                  2012 JUNIOR MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER

“Our Junior Men’s National Team has had a phenomenal training camp and are now expecting to continue our success at the age-group level of competition,” added Barrett. “Team selection for the Junior Men’s National Team was extremely challenging, with the abundance of talented players that Canada currently has to choose from,” said Assistant General Manager/Executive Vice-President of the senior men’s program, Rowan Barrett. “We have selected a team to represent Canada that we believe, will give Canada the best opportunity to qualify in Brazil for the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championships.”

Canada has been placed in Group “B” and will open play against Puerto Rico on June 16 (3 p.m. EDT), followed by Colombia on June 17 (7 p.m. EDT) and Argentina on June 18 (3 p.m. EDT). The top two teams from Group A and Group B will advance to play for 1st-4th place, while the No. 3 and No. 4 ranked teams play out for 5th-8th place. The semifinals will be played on June 19 and the gold medal game will be held on June 20.

‍