Ireland U18 men's head coach Paul Kelleher names initial 33 person panel for 2022/23

Ireland U18 men’s head coach Paul Kelleher has struck a mix of continuity and fresh impetuous, as he finalised a 33 strong panel for the 2022/23 season.

A sign of the youth involved at the FIBA U18 Men’s European Championship in Romania earlier this year, six of the players who led Ireland to a 20^th place finish return for another crack at this level. Aivaras Uosis, Daniel Carberry, Tony Ezeonu, Ryan Calo, Joseph Badejo and Jack Kehoe will be hoping to put their experience at this level to good use.

They’re joined by a further seven players making the step up from the U16 grade. Coach Kelleher will be looking for Harry Scully, Pharrell Osagie, Fortune Igbokwe, Declan Gbinigie, Jakub Malecki, Finn Walsh and Joshua Osayanrhion to make as seamless transition as possible, as they compete for a final roster spot in the coming months.

Of the remaining 20 players, 16 have represented Ireland at underage level, many of whom continued their development with the Ireland U17 programme last year. Four players are receiving their first call up for an Irish team, Olaf Michalczuk (Shining Stars Sports Academy, VA), Stanley Njekwe (Manchester Giants), Victor Okojie (BC Taurus) and Jakey Weech (Newcastle Eagles).

“We are excited and have been pleasantly surprised by the quality and depth of the squad over the course of the trial process,” said head coach Paul Kelleher.  “We have selected more players than we anticipated selecting and that is only a great thing for Irish basketball and a credit to the coaching that is going on around the country. There is very little between the players and that called for a deeper initial squad. If you look at the caps earned by the players throughout the squad, there is a significant amount of experience coming back to the squad. It’s an exciting time and one that the staff and I are very much looking forward to,” he added.

Paul Kelleher during this summer's FIBA U18 men's European Championship in Romania. 

25 of the selection are currently plying their trade in Ireland, with eight currently playing or attending school overseas in the USA, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Ireland will once again compete in Division ‘B’ of the FIBA U18 Men’s European Championship in 2023, which is currently scheduled to take place in Portugal.