The Tribune

THE tryouts for the under-17 boys’ junior men’s national basketball team made its way to the DW Davis Gymnasium here in New Providence over the weekend as the team’s head coach Jay Philippe scouted out the talent pool.

It was the first tryout hosted in New Providence for the respective national team and the third tryouts overall with the first two editions being held in Grand Bahama.

The exercise attracted a total of 60 potential national team members coming from both the private and public school systems.

Coach Philippe shared what he saw in particular from this group of under-17 basketball players.

“I was pleased to see the amount of talent here in New Providence. Unfortunately, a lot of the kids that came out to the tryouts for this age group were kids that are in the ninth and 10th grade so they do not have a chance to play a lot. Moving forward it is going to be difficult to find the guys that give us the best chance in in-game situations but overall I was pleased. We will be back in the next two weeks,” he said.

The group engaged in full court and half-court sets which involved transition drills and executing offensive plays. The young men also got the opportunity to put their skills on display in scrimmage games in hopes of making the cut for the national team.

The national team coach, who is also the head coach of Sunland Baptist Academy, has his sights set on about 10 potential national team members so far, but will continue to expand the tryouts to the Family Islands and try to include Bahamian players that are overseas in high school. “I saw about 10 guys overall that I think passed the first cut and will be able to make the second and third cuts. We have about four guys in Grand Bahama that I think have a good chance to make this team but a majority of the talent is in the USA. We have a lot of Bahamian high school players in the USA that are really good. It is just a matter of trying to bring them all in together within the next month or two to be able to represent the country at the upcoming junior national tournament,” he said.

The next stop for the Bahamas junior boys’ national basketball team tryouts will be Abaco and then officials will make yet another stop in New Providence and Grand Bahama before making final decisions on the team roster.

“We plan to have a tryout in Abaco as well. I do not think the budget allows us to go to Bimini or another Family Island but what I do have is friends on those different islands that are basketball coaches and I rely on them heavily as far as their recommendations on who they think can give themselves a chance.

“Definitely, Abaco will be the next stop for us and then we will come back to New Providence and Grand Bahama again,” he said.

Coach Philippe is looking to pick the top 24 players which ensures that he has two teams in the event that, if there are any holes in the rotation, they can be filled without issue.