Cayman’s national basketball team is finally set.
After months of tryouts, head coach Daniel Augustine has chosen his final 12 players. They are: Jorge Ebanks, Jerome Graham-Record, Chad Leslie, Jerome Narcissee, Dwight O’Garro, Samuel O’Garro, Shaad O’Garro, Lloyd Samuels, Deandre Simpson, David Terry, Cory Thompson and Rotando Thompson.
The squad is being selected ahead of a pair of overseas tournaments. First comes the Islands Games on the United Kingdom’s Isle of Wight 26 June to 3 July. Next is the Caribbean Basketball Confederation Senior Championships 25 July to 5 August in the Bahamas.
Augustine states the Cayman team can excel, especially with the presence of college talent.
“We’re looking promising, especially with the guys coming back from school,” Augustine said. “Guys like Jorge, Jerome Record and Deandre Simpson are important factors. With them our depth is looking good as well.
“Everything is coming together slowly. It has mainly been about intense training on our strategies for each tournament. We’re working a lot on our shooting because we want to be able to score fast. We have a strong bench, a good starting five and we can play a real up-tempo style of basketball. In both of the tournaments we should make an impact.”
The majority of the players have limited national team experience. Of the group the main ones to have significant exposure on the national stage are Dwight O’Garro, Chad Leslie and Cory Thompson. O’Garro, a 6ft 5in forward, is currently playing for the Wolves in the national men’s league division one basketball final alongside Thompson (a 6ft 6in forward). Leslie, 6ft 6in, played for the Heat during the league.
More than half of the team is made up of players who are currently abroad in school. Jorge Ebanks is finishing up his studies at Daemen College in New York, Jerome Graham-Record is at Weber State University in Utah, Jerome Narcisse recently transferred to Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Oklahoma, Samuel O’Garro is at Eckerd College in Florida, Shaad O’Garro is at Campbellsville University in Kentucky, Lloyd Samuels is at Kings College in Tennessee and Deandre Simpson is at Hesser College in Connecticut.
The national team will have an exhibition game this Sunday 12 June at the Arts and Recreation Centre. At 8pm the side takes on an all-star squad made up of players in this year’s national men’s league.
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