The Guelph Nighthawks will open the Canadian Elite Basketball League‘s Summer Series tournament on Saturday with five returning players.
The tournament is being held in St. Catherines after the start of the season was postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Each team will play each other once in a round-robin format before the top six teams are placed in a bracket. The champion is expected to be crowned on Aug. 9.
The Nighthawks are looking to rebound after struggling in their inaugural season and finishing second to last.
Charles Kissi, who was brought on mid-season, is returning as head coach.
“This is the most critical piece to our success is having him back and having him on board,” said Nighthawks president Cameron Kusch
Kissi is also an associate coach with the Raptors 905, a minor league affiliate of the Toronto Raptors.
Kusch and Kissi have spent the off-season by going back to the drawing board and now have several new faces on their bench.
The roster sees the return of only five members of the 2019 team, including Olu Famutimi, Myles Charvis, Jabari Craig, Jamal Reynolds and Kimbal Mackenzie
The team will feature two internationally designated players during the Summer Series, highlighted by Americans Tre’Darius McCallum from the NBA G League and Jonathan Arledge from the French Pro A Jeep Elite League.
Canadians Marcus Anderson, Tyrrel Tate, Joel Friesen, Corey Johnson and Tyrell Green make up the other five members of the Nighthawks.
Kusch described the team as versatile.
“There’s a lot of interchangeable parts that can be plugged and played in whatever matchup it is that we’re facing,” he said.
“I’m excited to see it all come together.”
The three-week tournament is set to kick off on Saturday, as the players still try and get to know one another and the game plan Kissi has designed.
But Kusch said he has full confidence in his staff.
“I feel like with the program our coaching staff has put into place and the culture that they are building for our players, we have the opportunity to do something really special,” he said.
The Nighthawks will meet the expansion Ottawa BlackJacks, who are playing their first game in the league and Kusch said they can not be undermined.
“Even though they are an expansion team, they have put together a solid roster,” he said.
The Nighthawks have teamed up with 1460 CJOY to broadcast games during the tournament. Coverage of their game against the BlackJacks on Saturday begins at 3:50 p.m.
Nighthawks’ fans can listen to the broadcast by tuning the AM dial to 1460, using CJOY’s online live player or by downloading the Radioplayer Canada app.
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