3 former Wildcats make Team Canada's National training camp roster
The Big Blue Nation should pay extra close attention to Team Canada over the coming months.
Three former Kentucky Wildcats have been named to the Senior Men’s National Team training camp roster, which was announced on Thursday. Those players are Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray, and Lenovo Tenerife (Spain) forward Kyle Wiltjer. They are three of 20 total Canadians named to the training camp roster ahead of the fourth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 qualifiers.
Team Canada’s first game of the window is on August 25 against Argentina in Victoria before a road trip to face Panama on August 28. Training camp is scheduled from August 22-24. Due to injury recovery, Murray will attend training camp but does not intend to play in the fourth window games.
Back in the spring, it was announced that both Gilgeous-Alexander and Murray had made a longterm commitment to Team Canada — a massive boost for what had been a struggling program throughout its history. SGA and Murray are two of the better point guards in the entire world and immediately add necessary backcourt talent. Gilgeous-Alexander, in particular, made waves in July for his impressive showing in the third window qualifiers.
Murray, on the other hand, is still in the process of fully recovering from a torn ACL that has kept him off the court for roughly 16 months now. Barring any unforeseen setbacks, he will be 100 percent ready to return for Team Canada once the 2023 FIBA World Cup begins next summer. SGA and Murray will form one of the world’s top backcourts and will make Canada a legitimate threat the moment they share the floor together.
As for Wiltjer, he’s been a Team Canada regular for years now. The former Kentucky Wildcat (later turned Gonzaga Bulldog) got his start with the junior national team before being elevated to the senior team a couple of years later. Wiltjer even won a silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. He’s been a constant with Team Canada ever since.
Currently ranked No. 18 in the world according to FIBA, Team Canada has a chance to be consistently good over the coming years. Along with young stars in SGA and Murray locked in for the foreseeable future, the program also features fellow NBA players such as Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Utah Jazz; cousins with SGA), RJ Barrett (New York Knicks), Dillon Brooks (Memphis Grizzlies), Luguentz Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks), and Cory Joseph (Detroit Pistons). Even Purdue’s 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey is part of the roster.
Team USA will still be the squad to root for next summer, but you won’t want to miss what the former ‘Cats will bring to Team Canada.
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