Canada released their roster on Friday for the FIBA World Cup qualifiers that will take place beginning next week. The 12-man roster is as follows:
| Name | Position | Height | Hometown | Current Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joel Anthony | Centre | 6’9″ | Montreal, QC | Free Agent |
| Anthony Bennett | Forward | 6’8″ | Toronto, ON | Northern Arizona Suns (G-League) |
| Grandy Glaze | Centre | 6’7″ | Toronto, ON | St. John’s Edge (NBL of Can) |
| Olivier Hanlan | Guard | 6’4″ | Aylmer, QC | Austin Spurs (G-League) |
| Brady Heslip | Guard | 6’2″ | Burlington, ON | Trabzonspor (Turkey) |
| Kaza Kajami-Keane | Guard | 6’1″ | Ajax, ON | Raptors 905 (G-League) |
| Owen Klassen | Centre | 6’10” | Kingston, ON | PAOK (Greece) |
| Dyshawn Pierre | Forward | 6’6″ | Whitby, ON | Banco di Srd (Italy) |
| Xavier Rathan-Mayes | Guard | 6’3″ | Scarborough, ON | Westchester Knicks (G-League) |
| Phil Scrubb | Guard | 6’3″ | Richmond, B.C. | Fraport SKY (Germany) |
| Thomas Scrubb | Forward | 6’6″ | Richmond, B.C. | Scandone AV (Italy) |
| Marc Trasolini | Centre | 6’9″ | Vancouver, B.C. | Hokkaido L. (Japan) |
This is a significantly better roster than was initially anticipated when the new in-season FIBA qualification procedure was laid out. Canada is bringing a handful of players either with NBA experience or on the NBA bubble as high-end G Leaguers, and even received clearance for Brady Heslip, an enormous boon to their offense. They’re a bit undersized, but Grandy Glaze is a gamer inside and Dyshawn Pierre has comfortably played the stretch-four role for this team in the past. Xavier Rathan-Mayes might be the name to watch here, as the likely starting point guard has had a terrific stretch since July to start his pro career.
The team will be lead by head coach Roy Rana and assistants Dave Smart, Nathaniel Mitchell (Raptors 905), Michael Meeks, and Jack Sikma (Raptors).
Canada will play Bahamas on Nov. 24 in Halifax and then play Dominican Republic on Nov. 27 in Santiago de los Caballeros. This marks stage one of a three-part qualifying process under the new FIBA guidelines, so Canada will be back in action again in February and June to complete the trio of home-and-home sets (U.S. Virgin Islands are also in their group). The top three teams from each group of four then advance to further qualifiers next September through February.
Training camp begins Monday in Halifax.
