NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlines Canada's roster for World Cup qualifier
CBC
Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlines the 16-player roster for next week's Canadian men's national team training camp ahead of the third window of FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 qualifiers.
The Hamilton, Ont., guard is one of four NBA players set to attend training camp June 27-30 at OVO Athletic Centre in Toronto.
Utah guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Toronto, Dallas power forward Dwight Powell of Toronto and Detroit centre Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, B.C., are also on the roster released Friday by Basketball Canada.
R.J. Barrett (New York), Oshae Brissett (Indiana), Khem Birch (Toronto), Luguentz Dort (Oklahoma City), Jamal Murray (Denver) and Kevin Pangos (CSKA Moscow) will be at camp, but won't participate in the qualifying window.
Absent from the roster are forward Andrew Wiggins of Vaughan, Ont., who is coming off a breakout performance as part of the Golden State Warriors' championship run, and Montreal centre Chris Boucher, who is entering unrestricted free agency after four seasons with the Raptors.
Phil Scrubb of Richmond, B.C., a veteran of 55 appearances for the national team, was also named to the roster, along with brother Thomas Scrubb (23 appearances).
Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off an ankle injury that kept him out of the Thunder's final 10 games of the season. He was limited to 56 contests in 2021-22 due to injuries.
When he did play, Gilgeous-Alexander was impressive, setting career-highs with 24.5 points, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, and tying a career-best mark with an average of 5.9 assists.
Olynyk, a national team regular with 41 appearances, put up 9.1 points and 4.4 rebounds a game with Detroit in 2021-22.
Powell averaged 8.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in his eighth season with Dallas.
Canada will face the Dominican Republic July 1 at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton before travelling to the U.S. Virgin Islands for a matchup on July 4.
The Canadians are undefeated through the first two windows with a 4-0 record and have already booked a spot in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.