TOP OF THE WORLD
Canadian under-19 team wins gold to give country its first international basketball crown,
Winning under-19 title marks first world championship for a Canadian team at any level
They were draped in flags and choking up as the strains of “O Canada” wafted over them, a history-making group of players and coaches trying to comprehend what they had done. It wasn’t easy. “I think everyone had chills . . . energy and pride,” coach Roy Rana said after Canada won the first FIBA gold medal in the country’s history. “It’s hard to describe.” Led by 17-year-old R.J. Barrett, the tournament’s most valuable player, Canada beat Italy 79-60 in Cairo on Sunday to win the under-19 world championship, marking the first time a Canadian team had mounted the top step of a global podium.
It will take some time for the magnitude of the accomplishment to sink in for everyone involved, but the emotion of the moment was real.
“They’re kids, they’re just having fun,” Rana said on a conference call. “It’s basketball. (But) it’s a very proud moment for this group of guys and our country.”
Canada’s best global finishes before Sunday were a silver medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and bronze medals at the1979 and1986 women’s world championships and the 2010 men’s under-17 worlds.
Barrett, the young phenom from Mississauga and the son of longtime national team standout Rowan Barrett, had 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the gold-medal game as Canada led from start to finish.
Rana, the head coach of the Ryerson men’s team and a coach in the Canada Basketball system for almost a decade, lauded the high school sophomore for his maturity off the court and his ability to block out the noise that accompanies his lofty status among the long-term basketball prognosticators who peg him as a possible first overall NBA draft pick in two or three years.
“He steps on the floor and he transforms himself,” the coach said. “It’s something really unique and unbelievable.”
For Canada Basketball, the accomplishment is, of course, a gigantic step.
While always a factor at global agegroup championships for both men and women, Canada has always found it impossible to leapfrog the United States at the highest of levels.
Beating the United States in Saturday’s semifinal was almost as significant as trouncing Italy for the gold medal.
“They were mentally tough, they believed in themselves, and we found a way,” Rana said. “(An) incredible moment for our country, for these kids.
“It’s unbelievable to be able to say that we’re the best team on the planet at the U-19 age level. It’s hard to express what we’re feeling right now as a group.”
Abu Kigab, of St. Catharines, added 12 points and10 rebounds for Canada while Nate Darling, of Sackville, N.S., chipped in with 12 points and four rebounds in the gold-medal game.