GB Senior Men’s Preliminary Squad Announced

By Sam Neter on June 27, 2014

The preliminary Great Britain Senior Men’s squad for the summer of 2014 has been announced, made up of 22 names, though it remains to be seen just how many players will make it to camp, which opens July 15 in Worcester.

Luol Deng and Joel Freeland have been named to the squad, but their arrival at camp ‘is subject to free agency and NBA summer league commitments.’

Dan Clark, Kieron Achara and Drew Sullivan all have been named, being the veteran presences on Joe Prunty’s squad, which features a handful of new faces.

Talented 1995 born guard Luke Nelson earned his first call up, along with Teddy Okereafor, who has just sat out a year at Rider after transferring from VCU, plus sharp shooting lefty guard Ben Mockford, who has just graduated from St Francis (NY) and Manchester Giants’ guard James Jones.

Members of the 2013 Eurobasket squad, Ogo Adegboye, Justin Robinson, Eric Boateng, Ali Fraser, Kyle Johnson, Gareth Murray, Myles Hesson, and Devon van Oostrum have also been included.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia 76ers big man Byron Mullens once again has reappeared on the squad list, Matthew Bryan-Amaning returns to the squad after a year hiatus, and Ovie Soko earns another call up after leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring in his senior season at Duquesne.

Paul Guede makes the cut after a successful season in Slovakia, and Ashley Hamilton returns after a year in Italy.

The team is without Pops Mensah-Bonsu, due to insurance issues, as well as Will Neighbour and Andrew Lawrence who are both out injured. Also not included who were in last year’s preliminary squad: Jamell Anderson, Dzaflo Larkai, Orlan Jackman, Alex Marcotullio and Liam Potter.

On the coaching staff, Estudiantes Assistant Coach, Alberto Lorenzo, replaces Guy Goodes, who was recently named head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Players and staff will gather in Worcester for a short training camp which begins on Tuesday July 15. Their first preparation games against Latvia will take place on Saturday July 19 and Sunday July 20 at the University of Worcester Arena. These will be the only opportunities to see GB in action in this country before the all-important EuroBasket qualifiers in August.

“I am very excited about the prospects for this team this summer, just as I was before the start of last season and we will be looking to improve on the successes we had,” Coach Prunty told gbbasketball.com.

“In 2013, some of the younger players developed into critical members of our squad and blended in well with some of the more established veterans. We displayed tremendous growth and look forward to taking the next steps to develop an even stronger squad this summer.

“This year, roster spots will be competitive which will continue to drive everyone to get better and make this year’s squad as respected and appreciated as last season’s.”

Prelminary GB Senior Men’s Squad 2014

Kieron Achara, Forward 6’10, Avellino, ITA Scotland
Ogo Adegboye, Point Guard, 6’0 Nea Kifisia Athena, GRE, England
Eric Boateng, Centre, 6’10 Pau, FRA, England
Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Forward, 6’9, Boulogne, FRA England
Dan Clark, Forward, 6’11, Unattached, England
Luol Deng, Forward, 6’9 Cleveland Cavaliers, US, England
Ali Fraser, Forward, 6’7 Gotha, GER, Scotland
Joel Freeland, Forward, 6’10, Portland Trail Blazers, US, England
Paul Guede, Guard, 6’5 Prievidza, SLO, England
Ashley Hamilton, Forward 6’7 Reggio Calabria, Italy, England
Myles Hesson, Forward, 6’6, Giessen 46ers, GER, England
Kyle Johnson, Guard, 6’5 Cremona, ITA, England
James Jones, Point Guard, 6’4 Manchester Giants, England
Ben Mockford, Guard, 6’2 St Francis-Brooklyn, NY, England
Byron Mullens, Centre 7’0, Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), England
Gareth Murray, Forward 6’7, Glasgow Rocks Scotland
Luke Nelson, Guard, 6’3 University of California – Irvine, England
Teddy Okereafor, Guard 6’4 Rider University, England
Justin Robinson, Guard, 6’1, Antonomeru SE, HUN England
Ovie Soko, Forward, 6’8 Duquesne, PA, England
Drew Sullivan, Forward 6’8, Leicester Riders England
Devon Van Oostrum, Point Guard 6’3, Laboral Kutxa, ESP England

GB Senior Men Staff

Head Coach: Joe Prunty
Assistant Coach: Nate Reinking
Assistant Coach: Alberto Lorenzo
Assistant Coach/Performance Analyst: Kwame Graves
Physiotherapist: Paul Fisher
Strength and Conditioning Coach: Matt Smith
Sports Scientist: Charles Cullen
Team Manager: Mark Lloyd
National Teams Director: Warwick Cann

GB Senior Men’s Preparation Games

Sat July 19th Great Britain v Latvia, University Arena, Worcester, England, 1500
Sun July 20th Great Britain v Latvia, University Arena, Worcester, England, 1500
Fri July 25th Belgium v Great Britain, Anvers, Belgium, 1900
Sat July 26th Belgium v Great Britain, Ostend, Belgium, 1900
Sat Aug 2nd Great Britain v TBC, Tbilisi, Georgia, TBC
Sun Aug 3rd Great Britain v TBC, Tbilisi, Georgia, TBC
Mon Aug 4th Great Britain v TBC, Tbilisi, Georgia, TBC

Eurobasket 2014 Qualifiers

Sun Aug 10th Iceland v Great Britain, Laugardalshöll Arena, Reykjavik 2015
Wed Aug 13th Great Britain v Bosnia-Herzegovina, Copper Box, Stratford, 1930
Wed Aug 20th Great Britain v Iceland, Copper Box, Stratford, 1930
Sun Aug 24th Bosnia-Herzegovina v Great Britain, Dvorana “Mirza Delibasic”, Skenderija, Sarajevo, 1900

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