‍TORONTO, Ont. (June 8, 2022) -- Canada Basketball announced Wednesday that Senior Men’s National Team assistant coach, Nathaniel Mitchell, has been named Head Coach for Canada for the inaugural GLOBL JAM FIVES competition.

“To be head coach of our national team and represent my country is not only a tremendous honour, but has been a goal of mine throughout my coaching career,” said Mitchell.  “To have the unique opportunity to lead Team Canada not only in Canada, but in my hometown of Toronto at the inaugural GLOBL JAM, is truly special.”

“Having worked directly with some of the country's next generation of talented athletes over the last several years, the future of Canadian basketball continues to be bright and will undoubtedly be on display this summer at GLOBL JAM.”

Set to take place in Toronto from July 5-10, GLOBL JAM will shine the international spotlight on the game’s rising stars and feature women’s and men’s teams from around the world competing in an Under-23 tournament live at Mattamy Athletic Centre and broadcast nationally on Sportsnet.

Session passes (2 games) are on sale now via Ticketmaster.  Additional ticket information, along with schedule and volunteer opportunities can be found at globljam.ca.

Most recently, Mitchell coached alongside Nate Bjorkgren during the first two windows of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers and helped Canada open with an undefeated 4-0 record. Mitchell has also served as assistant coach on head coach Nick Nurse’s Senior Men’s National Team staff for both the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 and the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria last summer.  Mitchell, who has been a member of the Senior Men’s National Team coaching staff since 2016, will also assume the duties of Head Coach for the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 in Brazil later this summer.  Originally from Toronto, Mitchell was an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors this past season after spending the previous three seasons (2018-21) in Charlotte as an assistant coach with the Hornets.  Mitchell has also previously served as an assistant coach with the Raptors 905 (2015-18) and the Maine Red Claws (2014-15).

Joining Mitchell on his staff are assistant coaches Dave DeAveiro, Jamie McNeilly and Scott Morrison, as well as apprentice coach, Kalisha Keane.

A long-standing coach with Canada Basketball, DeAveiro returns to the bench for Canada after serving as an assistant coach at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019.  DeAveiro has coached within several different levels of the national team program, including time with the Senior, Development and Junior teams.  He spent six summers as head coach of Canada’s U16/U17 age-group and led the teams to a second place finish at the 2015 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship in Argentina and to a bronze medal at the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship for Men tournament in Uruguay.  Coaching Canada during GLOBL JAM will be a homecoming for DeAveiro as the Toronto resident is currently the head coach of the Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team.   

McNeilly will be back in Toronto to join Mitchell’s staff this summer after coaching Canada to a historic gold medal, the country’s first in an international FIBA competition, at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017.  Since 2011, McNeilly has coached Canadian age-group national teams to several podiums at both Americas and World Championship events.  He recently completed his second season as an assistant coach at Texas Christian University (TCU), including their first NCAA Tournament win in 35 years.  Prior to TCU, McNeilly was an associate head coach at Texas A & M (2019-21), after spending five seasons as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech. As a player, McNeilly proudly represented Canada at two consecutive World University Games, in 2005 at the Summer Universiade in Turkey and at the 2007 Universiade in Thailand, where he led the team to a bronze medal as a team captain.

Another familiar face is back in mix for Canada as Morrison returns to the bench for Canada.  He began coaching Canada as an assistant coach with the Junior National Team in 2012 and helped the team secure a bronze medal at the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men in Brazil, a sixth place finish at the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship in the Czech Republic and a silver medal at the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men in Colorado Springs.  After spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, this year Morrison joined the Perth Wildcats in the National Basketball League, the top professional men's basketball league in Australia and New Zealand.  Prior to joining the Celtics, he was head coach of the NBA G-League’s Maine Red Claws, where he was named G-League Coach of the Year in 2015.  Morrison began his coaching career at Lakehead University and spent 11 seasons as the head coach of the Thunderwolves.

While Keane will be making her Team Canada coaching debut at GLOBL JAM this summer, she is no stranger to representing her country.  As a player, she played for the Senior Women’s National Team at the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship for Women and 2013 FIBA Americas Championship for Women.  Prior to that, Keane spent four years representing Canada at the age-group level, including a second-place finish at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Women.  She was also a member of Team Canada at the 2007 FIBA U21 World Championship for Women, where she led the team in scoring.  After spending three seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Long Island University, Keane was hired as an assistant coach ahead of next season by the University of Dayton.

Recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the GLOBL JAM men’s and women’s tournaments will feature two pools of four teams, respectively, competing in round-robin action July 5-8. Teams that advance to the semifinal round will meet on Saturday, July 9, followed by the Championship games on Sunday, July 10.