Top Canadian Basketball Prospects On Deck At Sun Youth Holiday Classic
Never short of talent and a wild basketball fan base, the 35th Sun Youth Invitational tournament in Montreal, Quebec is less than a week away and is expecting several CIS and NCAA coaches in attendance.
Concordia, McGill, UQAM, Ryerson, Brock and Nipissing are the CIS schools that have confirmed that they will be in attendance recruiting for future years.
From the NCAA, Brown and Detroit are locked in with the possibility of teams from the America East, BIG 10 and PAC 12 conferences to show up.
This year program director Rodney Skerritt has invited Vermont Academy, Vaughan Secondary, BTB Prep, Ottawa Elite and Ottawa Next Level for the out of town teams and has Quebec representation from Cégep de l’Outaouais, John Abbott, Jean Mance, Jean XXIII, Stanstead, two teams from Thetford Academy and of course the host team Sun Youth Hornets.
In last year’s Sun Youth Championship game, Vanier Collge came out on top after a dominant performance from Schneider Suffrard who is now balling in the CIS for Coach Rastko Popovic.
This year we can expect to see lots more above the rim plays as the likes of Miami Commit Bruce Brown (Vermont) and High-major 2017 prospect Christian David bring their chemistry to the fold.
This tournament will be the last high school level game that Xavier Commit Eddie Ekiyor participates in before heading to the Big East for second semester. Coached by Tony House, Ekiyor will run with a talented Ottawa Elite squad composed of a combination of youth and senior talent–could be a threat for the title.
Thetford Academy’s roster is loaded with size and athleticism, from both France and Quebec. The latest of their prospects to splash on the National scene is 2019 Quincy Guerrier. We’ll see how he’s been developing in the first half of the season as we look on this weekend.
BTB has found themselves in many close matches against some of the top Prep teams in Canada. A strong finish in this tournament would show the growth of the program as a whole.
There is so much to learn about the Quebec teams, as most of their rosters are young under the radar. One Quebec prospect who will suit up for Sun Youth, Eze Dike, will have NCAA coaches recruiting him–reigning MVP of the Quebec NPH Showcase this past summer.
Lastly, Vaughan is coming off a tournament championship from last weekend and the team is gelling very well. Although they lack size and will be missing star point guard Andrew Nembhard; who is taking care of a sprained ankle, they shoot the ball well enough and defend all game. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them make a deep run.
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