THREE Tralee teenagers have been selected on a 15 player squad which will travel to Romania for the FIBA U18 European Championship Division B in Romania next July.
The Ireland Under 18 men’s head coach, Paul Kelleher, announced the squad today.
Daire Kennelly, Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee Imperials; Leeroy Odiahio, Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee Imperials and Rapolas Buivydas, CBS The Green, St Brendan’s/Tralee Warriors have made the cut.
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Speaking about the announcement, Coach Kelleher stated: “It’s a very exciting time to be back in the B Division. With that in mind, the selection of this phase of the program was very, very difficult. We have left some really good players behind and in some areas, the position of players was very saturated which had a huge bearing on the selection.
“It is a very talented generation and I think we will see a lot of the players at senior level in future years. A lot of the players selected are now playing senior club basketball and crucially, have European experience. The staff are very excited moving forward to the next phase of the program.”
The selected players are:
Andrew O’Conor, Presentation Brothers, Cork, Ballincollig
CJ Fulton, St. Malachy’s, Belfast, Belfast Star
Daire Kennelly, Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee Imperials
David Lehane, Gaelcholaiste Mhuire AG, Blue Demons
Eli Lenihan, SMGS Blarney, Neptune BC
James Connaire, St Joseph’s The Bish, Moycullen BC
Leeroy Odiahio, Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee Imperials
Matthew Harper, Templeogue College, Templeogue BC
Nate Moore, Crescent Comprehensive, Limerick Lions
Paul Kelly, St. Paul’s Oughterard, Moycullen BC
Rapolas Buivydas, CBS The Green, St Brendan’s/Tralee Warriors
Ronan Cregan, Crescent Comprehensive, Limerick Lions
Sanmi Fajana, Myerscough College, Manchester
Stephen Achukwu, NCI, Killester BC
Tiernan Howe, Colaiste Chiarain, Dublin Lions