TORONTO (April 5, 2023) – Chris Cheng will make this national team head coaching debut this summer as he’s been selected to lead Canada at the FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship. 

"I am honoured and excited to be appointed the position as U16 Head Coach," said Cheng. "Anytime I am provided with an opportunity to represent my country, I cannot turn it down. I look forward to working with this year's team, coaching staff, and support staff"

Since 2013, Cheng has held several roles within Canada’s men’s high performance program and most recently was an assistant coach with the U17 national team last summer at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2022 in Malaga, Spain.  As head coach of the University of Windsor men's basketball team, Cheng has led the Lancers to the playoffs in each of his three seasons and this year guided the team to a 17-7 regular season record, first in the OUA West division, and a berth in the semifinals.  Prior to joining Windsor, Cheng was the first-ever head coach for Nipissing University, leading the program to the OUA playoffs in just its third season.

Jason Dawkins, Willy Manigat and Peter Guarasci will join Cheng as assistant coaches for the competition.

Dawkins returns for another year after being an assistant coach last summer at the FIBA U17 Men’s Basketball World Cup 2022.  Since 2019, Dawkins has been the head coach of the George Brown Huskies men’s basketball program and this season, led the team to the OCAA Championship game and a berth in the 2023 CCAA Men's Basketball Championship.  At the provincial level, Dawkins has also led Team Ontario to six gold medals and one silver from 2010-17.

Coming off a season in which he led the Brock Badgers men’s basketball program to a 16-6 regular season record, tops in the OUA West division, Mangiat will make his national team coaching debut later this summer.  In addition to his time with Brock, Mangiat has also been involved with both the Niagara River Lions and Ottawa Blackjacks in the CEBL.

After representing Canada as a player at several international FIBA competitions, including the 1998 FIBA World Championship and Sydney 2000 Olympics, Guarasci is back with the red and white this time in a coaching role. Guarasci was  also the first-ever Head Coach and GM of Fraser Valley Bandits in their inaugural season in the CEBL back in 2019 after serving as head coach of the University of British Columbia Okanagan’s men’s basketball team from 2012-2018.

The FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship will run June 5-11, 2023. The field will comprise the top eight teams from across the Americas zone, divided into two groups of four teams each.  The top four teams in the event will successfully qualify for next summer’s FIBA U17 Men’s Basketball World Cup 2024.

Next week, Canada Basketball will host a Men’s High Performance National Team Age-Group Assessment Camp at Humber College from April 7-10, 2023.  Bringing together top athletes from across the country, the camp provides a national training environment with an international focus for top identified athletes in a variety of age groups ranging from those born in 2004 and later.  

Canada is currently ranked 7th overall in the FIBA boy’s age-group rankings, presented by Nike, following the conclusion of the FIBA 2022 Youth Events.