19 man squad named for Ireland U18 MNT series against Croatia

Ireland U18 MNT head coach Niall Berry has named a 19-man-squad to face Croatia in a two-game friendly series this week, as preparations continue for FIBA Youth EuroBasket in Croatia later this year. 

The boys in green take on the team ranked number 47 in FIBA's World Rankings on Wednesday and Thursday at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin at 18:30 and 16:00 respectively. You can buy your ticket to support Ireland for €5 at the door ahead of the game. 

Three uncapped players - Michael Cunningham-Smyth (Titans BC), Ryan Sheehy (St. Brendan's) and Patrick O'Keeffe (South Tipp Titans/Tipperary Talons) have been included in a squad which contains players from eight clubs across the island. Belfast Star have the strongest representation with three players, followed by Dublin Lions, Titans BC and Portlaoise Panthers with two squad members each. 

Speaking ahead of the squad announcement, head coach Niall Berry said: 

“On behalf of our coaching staff I’m delighted to announce this preliminary squad of 19 players who will move forward in the selection process for the Ireland U18 men’s squad in preparation for FIBA Youth EuroBasket in Croatia, 2026. We are very excited about this group of players, and we are very much looking forward to having the squad together for our Easter camp.

With such a talented group of players who are playing here in Ireland, we feel that the 19 players selected are all capable of moving on to a final 12, so this week’s camp will be very exciting to see them all compete against each other, and for each other. The hard part is always the players who won’t be moving forward in the programme and this selection is a very difficult one. We are leaving some players off the list who have been fantastic in our training camps, but this is the nature of the selection process, and we must narrow it down. We want to say a thank you to everyone for their work and contribution to the programme and we have no doubt we will see these players come back stronger, and competing for future international squads.

It’s always a great honor to represent our country and it is now up to the players selected to compete in the upcoming camps and the Croatia International series and show us why they belong in the FIBA Youth EuroBasket roster.”

Ireland Squad: 

Adam McCarthy (Eanna BC), Aidan McGrath (Thayer Academy / Expressions Elite), Aivaras Buzas (NABA), Bentoy Monshengwo (Dublin Lions), Declan Ehigie (Westtown School, PA), Desmond Ogedegbe (Portlaoise Panthers), Etinosa Ehioghae (Rasta Vechta, Germany), Fryderyk Klimas (Limerick Lions), Jayden Umeh (Portlaoise Panthers), Kieran O'Shaughnessy (St. Ignatius College Prep, San Francisco), Kieran Quinn (Bergen Catholic, Oradell NJ), Layden O'Neill (Belfast Star), Mark Burns (Belfast Star & Brewster Academy), Michael Cunningham Smyth (Titans BC), Nathan Gbinigie (Titans BC), Patrick O'Keeffe (South Tipp Titans & Tipperary Talons), Ryan Sheehy (St. Brendan’s) Sean Patterson (IMG Academy), Shareef Elmahi (Dublin Lions).