Next wave in high school showcase
All-Canadian event shows the ever-increasing depth of basketball in the country
Nelson Kaputo is relishing the chance to prove that the next wave of basketball talent in Canada runs deeper than the big names already on everyone’s radar.
Most of the hype surrounds Thon Maker, already touted by some as a potential NBA lottery draft pick, and Jamal Murray, who scored a gamehigh 30 points and was named the MVP in the World Team’s 103-101 victory Saturday over the U.S. in the Nike Hoop Summit, a game that featured the best high school players in the world.
But Kaputo, a 17-year-old point guard, is excited to show that those prospects aren’t the only ones with a possible future in the professional ranks — and the impending all-star summit of premier high school hoops in Toronto is the place to do it.
“A lot of guys our age and around Canada have just about the same skill level as them,” said Kaputo, a Grade 12 student who started for Toronto’s St. Michael’s College Blue Raiders, the recently anointed AAAA provincial champs.
“That’s what Canada is going to open its eyes to,” said Kaputo. “It’s not just those two that have extreme talent and are probably going to play in the NBA.”
The inaugural event, billed as the BioSteel All Canadian Basketball Game, featured a dunk contest and three-point contest Monday at the Athlete Institute in Orangeville, Ont., with the all-star game on the following Tuesday at Ryerson University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.
TSN will broadcast the game Tuesday at about 10 p.m. on tape delay after the Raptors’ game against the Boston Celtics.
Organizers are describing it as the latest push to entrench this country as a hotbed of basketball talent, the Canadian answer to the McDonald’s All American Game, which has brought together the best high school players in the U.S. for more than 35 years.
“That’s definitely the intent,” said Rowan Barrett, a former pro who is now the assistant general manager of the senior men’s program for Canada Basketball. “These are good Canadian boys that love their country, that have been trained here and developed here and should have that opportunity here as well.”
The idea for a high school all-star game was spawned this winter when Tony McIntyre, who runs the CIA Bounce basketball program in Brampton, was walking through the snow with John Celenza, president and CEO of BioSteel, a sports nutrition company.
“I think it’s filling a void that exists here in Canada,” said McIntyre.
The men approached Canada Basketball for additional support, while TSN agreed to carry highlights from the event, said Celenza.
From there, they assembled basketball insiders across the country to form an 11-member committee to choose the 24 players who would be invited to take part, said McIntyre, who chaired the selection group. The committee began with a core of 50 nominees, which was whittled down to 36 during a series of meetings. Through several rounds of voting, they landed on the group of 24.
The final team was mandated to include four players from the class of 2018, four Canadians currently playing ball outside the country, and 16 students from Canadian schools. Most of this year’s crop comes from Ontario, though Barrett said the makeup of the all-star team can be expected to vary from year to year.
“So far, it’s been able to rally a tremendous amount of support,” he said. “There’s really no reason not to be supportive of this.”
Looking forward, McIntyre said the goal is to ensure the game becomes an annual fixture on the Canadian basketball calendar.
“I hope in 20, 25 years, we’re looking back saying: ‘Look at all the players that used this as a springboard to start their career and get their name out there.’ ”
Kaputo hopes so too, especially given that, according to McIntyre, half of the NBA’s 30 teams have expressed interest in checking out the game. But Kaputo said he’s not going to dwell too much on that.
“I’m just going there to play basketball,” he said. “I feel like it’s a great honour.”