SkyHawks add homegrown talent
Players skip European pro leagues for chance to come home
Even as a member of the Medway Park Crusaders, an English pro basketball team, Manock Lual told those who asked that he was from Ottawa. Not “Canada,” but “Ottawa.” “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to represent something besides my city,” Lual said Wednesday. “I do love Canada, don’t get it wrong, but, at the same time, I’m from Ottawa, so that’s exactly what I’m going to represent.”
The former Lester B. Pearson Panther and Ottawa Phoenix club team member will have to earn the chance to represent his hometown as a pro, though, despite being the first pick in the second round of the National Basketball League of Canada draft on Monday and agreeing to terms on a contract with the Ottawa SkyHawks.
The SkyHawks introduced Lual, former St. Matthew Tiger and Gloucester Wolverine Eric Kibi and four other Ontario athletes during a media conference at City Hall. They’ll be among 18 players battling for 12 roster spots when training camp begins in Orléans on Oct. 15.
A 24-year-old forward, Lual spent five years with the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers before signing his first contract in England. He said he had a couple of NBA Development League tryouts lined up, but decided instead to sign with the SkyHawks.
“If it wasn’t going to be Ottawa SkyHawks, I’d still be chasing another contract, but I’m happy that I’m home,” he said.
Kibi, a 23-year-old forward, went from St. Matthew to a New Mexico prep school to a Texas college to the University of Arkansas before starting his pro career in Germany, but he heard along the way that Ottawa had received an expansion franchise in the now three-year-old NBL of Canada.
“At first I was going to head back overseas, but the opportunity to play at home, I think it’s too much to pass up,” Kibi said.
“My parents haven’t seen me play since I played at St. Matt’s. It’s too much to pass up. It’s just a great opportunity.”
Also introduced on Wednesday were centre/forward Jamie Vanderbeken of Belleville and three guards from Toronto: former national junior team member Tristan Blackwood; Jerome Brown, the team’s third-round pick on Monday; and Alex (Superman) Johnson, who went from not being registered at all for the NBL of Canada draft combine to becoming the first pick overall.
The SkyHawks have previously announced free-agent deals with four U.S. players: forwards Fred Sturdivant and Tirrell Baines, guard Mike Rose and swingman Ryan Anderson.
League rules require at least three Canadians on the 12-man regular-season roster. SkyHawks technical director Merrick Palmer said the goal was to both exceed the minimum number of homegrown players and to compete for a league title.
Palmer said the SkyHawks were talking contract with other Canadians, including some with links to Ottawa, but which ones were signed would depend in part on any free agents talked into joining the new franchise by head coach Kevin Keathley.
“What we are trying to do is to create the highest level of training camp (competition) and see who sticks,” Palmer said.
Those who sign and stick with the SkyHawks won’t get rich, given the league salary cap is $150,000 for each 12-man roster, but living expenses are covered, Palmer added.
Tip-off for the first regularseason game is 73 days away, Nov. 2, when the SkyHawks play host to the Windsor Express at Canadian Tire Centre.