6 months ago
29
ONE OF Jamaica’s brightest under-17 talents, Marcus McDonald, has been given the opportunity to showcase his skills at the upcoming Basketball Without Borders Americas Camp.
The internationally recognised camp, jointly organised by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), is scheduled to run from May 17 – 20 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
According to President of Jamaica’s Basketball Association, Paulton Gordon, this marks significant progress for Jamaica’s youth basketball system.
“I would consider it an achievement because, if you’re trying to build the youth programme to assist players in transitioning to the senior programme, then this is where you would want to start. This camp offers you the opportunity to interact with 60 of the best talents in the Americas and these players were handpicked based on the last tournament (CentroBasket) in Belize,” Gordon explained.
During the CentroBasket U17 Championships held last year, McDonald, on a Jamaican team that finished sixth of eight teams, managed to average 14.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.
The talented guard will be the sole representative for Jamaica as teammate Antoine Daye, due to the ongoing Caribbean Examinations Council sitting, had to miss out on the opportunity.
Gordon added that McDonald’s invitation to the camp shows that eyes are on Jamaica’s basketball and believes that exposing players to international camps augurs well for future development.
In addition, the president revealed that talks are being conducted with the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association to extend the high-school basketball tournament.
“It’s not like we recommended the players. They were handpicked, and it also creates a platform for them to move forward. We must continue to expose our youngsters, and over the last few years any opportunity we’ve gotten for youth tournaments we, the Jamaica Basketball Association, try to enter a team.
“We have to also collaborate with the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association to extend the school level competition along with inviting more players to the local Star Search camp which fosters development from ages 13-19,” said Gordon.
According to Gordon, McDonald will be one of the leaders of Jamaica’s senior team.
“Marcus is a leader, and he has the fundamentals. He has honed his skills and we expect him, in the coming years, to be one of the country’s leading guards.”
English (US) ·