Badger is back with the River Lions
Niagara makes Tchuente first pick in CEBL draft
There won’t be an off-season for Jordan Tchuente, the top rebounder in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference and the men’s basketball player of the year at Brock University.
For the third year in a row, the six-foot-seven forward from Kanata, Ont., a suburb of Ottawa, will be remaining in the region and a spring-summer schedule with the Niagara River Lions of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).
The pro team, which plays home games at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, selected him 10th overall with its first pick in the 2024 CEBL Draft. With their other picks in the three-round draft, the River Lions took six-foot-two guard Luka Syllas from Queen’s University at 11th overall and six-foot-four guard Jerry Jr. Mercury from Mohawk College at 30th.
Tchuente found practising with and competing against the pros boosted his confidence and upped his game. “I didn’t expect to play with them. It’s more like I was getting a training camp opportunity, then I got the opportunity to play,” he said, recalling his first summer in the CEBL.
Tchuente said coming back for a second summer allowed him to “soak up more knowledge.”
“Both years were really learning experiences, trying to soak up as much information as I can,” he said. “There were established pros all around me.”
Once he was back with the Badgers, Tchuente applied what he learned with the River Lions and had “one of the best years of my career so far.”
He was named to the OUA’s second all-star team after averaging 14.1 points per game and grabbing 191 rebounds in 21 games for an average of 9.1 per game, tops in the conference and ninth in Canada.
The kinesiology student is eligible to return to Brock for a fourth season, his final year of eligibility, but is unsure at this point.
“That’s a decision that I’m going to make later on in the season. As of right now, it’s kind of 50-50,” he said in an interview.
“Everything kind of depends on how things go.”
General manager and head coach Victor Raso is glad to welcome Tchuente back to “our River Lions family.”
“He has become part of our core group, and I believe his game has really grown this past season under coach Willy (Manigat) at Brock,” Raso said. “I’m excited for Dino to take a big step forward this summer.”
Syllas was named the OUA’s top defensive player and made the first all-star team after averaging 18.7 points, five assists and six rebounds in his fourth season at Queen’s. His 47 steals were fifth in the country.
Mercury became the first Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) player ever taken in the draft after averaging 22.6 points and 10.4 points in 25 games with the Mohawk Mountaineers.
In March, CCAA student-athletes became eligible for a draft that previously had been limited to players either graduating or returning to post-secondary programs under the U Sports umbrella.
The River Lions are scheduled to tip off their sixth CEBL season on the road against the Brampton Honey Badgers on Friday, May 24. They host Brampton in their home opener on Thursday, May 30.