Kerry All Ireland winning GAA player Kieran Donaghy has been selected for the Ireland basketball squad.
Pete Strickland unveiled his panel of 20 players on Tuesday and included the Kerry footballer who is also starring for Superleague outfit Garvey Trallee Warriors this season.
“On behalf of our current Irish Senior Men's National team staff of Assistant Coach Ioannis Liapakis and Team Manager Tom O'Malley, it is an honor to announce the selection of our initial 20 basketball players for the Irish Men's National Team. Selecting just twenty from a far more expansive grouping of quality players in the country was difficult. Nonetheless, preparing for the 2018 Small Nations Tournament demands that we now begin the process of building a team that all Irish basketball players, indeed, all of Ireland, can be proud of. Training will commence this April, allowing our team members to complete their respective seasons with their current club and university teams,” said Strickland.
“It is my avowed goal to make this Irish team a living embodiment to teamwork, hard work and basketball acumen that all of Europe must contend with. Personally, I am thrilled to follow in the footsteps of friends, mentors and colleagues such as Danny Fulton, Enda Byrt, Bill Dooley, Gerry Fitzpatrick, Jay Larranaga, and others, as well as recently acquainted Collin O'Reilly, all men who have successfully coached the Irish squad in years past.”
The squad will get together in April as they prepare for next years small nations tournament .
They will play in tournaments before that however.
Donaghy is one of two Tralee players named in the squad:
Adrian O'Sullivan (UCC Demons)
Cian Sullivan (La Salle University)
Ciaran O'Sullivan (UCC Demons)
Ciaran Roe (Pyrobel Killester)
Colin O'Reilly (UCC Demons)
Conor Meany (UCD Marian)
Daniel James (UCD Marian)
Eoghain Kiernan (Pyrobel Killester)
Issac Westbrooks (Griffith Swords Thunder)
Jason Killeen (Templeogue)
John Carroll (University of Hartford)
Jordan Blount (University of Illinois)
Keelan Cairns (Belfast Star)
Kieran Donaghy (Garvey’s Tralee Warriors)
Lorcan Murphy (Templeogue)
Neil Randolph (Templeogue)
Paul Dick (most recently Fuenlabrada, Madrid)
Paul Freeman (SSE Airtricity Moycullen)
Roy Downey (UCC Demons)
Ryan Leonard (Garvey’s Tralee Warriors)
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