BASKETBALL: Five Cork Men Named in Ireland Senior Men's Squad

Ireland Senior Men’s Coach Colin O’Reilly has named an initial 20-man squad ahead of the FIBA European Championships for Small Countries in June.

The first official squad to be named since 2009 features 15 players currently active in the Men’s National League.

In total, five Men’s Premier League clubs are represented. Barry Drumm and Mark Nagle are named from UCD Marian with Keelan Cairns (Belfast Star), Paul Dick (Pyrobel Killester) and Kevin Lacey (GCD Swords Thunder) also included.

Kenneth Hansberry of Maree gets the nod for his performances with Men’s Division One leaders Maree.

Player Coach Colin O’Reilly is the one of just three survivors from the 2009 campaign alongside Templeogue’s Conor Grace and Jason Killeen. Killeen was in his senior year at Augusta State at that time while Conor Grace was with Ilisiakos in the Greek A2. The last active squad to be named featured 11 overseas players.

Joining O’Reilly from C&S UCC Demons are Kyle Hosford and brothers Adrian and Ciaran O’Sullivan while Sean Flood, Lorcan Murphy and Stephen James are also named for Hula Hoops Men’s National Cup Champions Templeogue.

Of the overseas players, Former Moycullen player Dylan Costello has made 19 appearances so far this season for Plymouth Raiders in the British Basketball League. Neil Randolph currently plays for Newcastle based Team Northumbria and will contest the quarter-finals of the British Universities Championships this weekend. Neil won an All-Ireland Schools Cup with Presentation Bray in 2006 and is the brother of West Ham Goalkeeper and Ireland International Darren Randolph.

Stateside, Cork native Jordan Blount is currently prepping with Spire Academy, having signed a letter of intent for UIC Flames (Chicago) for 2016-17. Former Belfast Star twins Conor and Aidan Quinn are freshmen with Mayville State University in North Dakota.

Eight of the squad were named in the Hibernia combined club team which participated in the Group Phase of the FIBA Europe Cup late in 2015.

The Senior Men’s Squad gather for the first time on April 10th in the Mardyke Arena and will be cut to a Championship 12 in May prior to a seven-week programme of training. The 2016 FIBA European Championships for Small Countries is an eight-team tournament beginning on June 26th.

2016 Ireland Senior Men’s Preliminary Squad:

Jordan Blount (Spire Institute, OH), Keelan Cairns (Belfast Star), Dylan Costello (Plymouth Raiders), Paul Dick (Pyrobel Killester), Barry Drumm (UCD Marian), Sean Flood (Templeogue), Conor Grace (Templeogue), Kenneth Hansberry (Maree), Kyle Hosford (C&S UCC Demons), Stephen James (Templeogue), Jason Killeen (Templeogue), Kevin Lacey (GCD Swords Thunder), Lorcan Murphy (Templeogue), Mark Nagle (UCD Marian), Colin O’Reilly (C&S UCC Demons), Adrian O’Sullivan (C&S UCC Demons), Ciaran O’Sullivan (C&S UCC Demons), Conor Quinn (Mayville State University, ND), Aidan Quinn (Mayville State University, ND), Neil Randolph (Team Northumbria)

FIBA Men’s European Championships for Small Countries:

Chisinau, Moldova, June 26th to July 3rd.

Group A: Ireland, San Marino, Malta, Gibraltar.

Fixtures:

Sunday June 26th: Ireland v Gibraltar

Tuesday June 28th: Ireland v Malta

Thursday June 30th: Ireland v San Marino

Saturday July 2nd: Semi-finals

Sunday July 3rd: Final and Third Place Game

Coaching, Management and Technical Staff:

Head Coach – Colin O Reilly

Assistant Coach – Puff Summers

Assistant Coach  - Joey Boylan 

Team Manager – Troy O Mahony

Physiotherapist – Maura Murphy

Strength & Conditioning Coach – Deirdre Morrison