Ten months after Canada’s national men’s basketball team last took to the court in FIBA AmeriCup qualifying action, they’re set to do it all over again next week.
This time, however, it will feature a foray into Saskatchewan for the first time with SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon set to host a pair of games for Team Canada.
“Here we go again,” said Canada Basketball general manager and executive vice-president Rowan Barrett. “It’s the beginning of a new [quadrennial] leading into the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. These are the beginning steps that we go through working to qualify to the AmeriCup that’s coming up this summer.”
Picking up a pair of victories against Nicaragua in the first qualifying window back in February, Team Canada will hit the court looking to pick up a few more wins with the goal of qualifying for the 2025 FIBA AmeriCup which will be hosted by Nicaragua next August.
Canada is aiming to be one of the dozen top countries from North, Central and South America and continue their rise on the international basketball scene.
Buzz around the team has only increased since Canada qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic men’s basketball tournament for the first time in decades this past summer.
“Our program has come from number 18 in the world in 2021 to number five,” said Barrett. “In this last Olympic cycle we’ve beat the number one, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight teams in the world. Our players believe we can win on any basketball floor, against anyone.”
