The objective of the revival of the Canterbury Rams side over the last two years was not only to compete at of the Men’s National Basketball League, but also develop the next tier of well-rounded junior leaders for the future. 2016 sees some of this come to fruition with three Canterbury youngsters named in the main playing squad and five as development players for the season campaign.
Josh Petermann, Shou Nisbet and Inga Solofuti join the four previously announced squad members, co-captains Ethan Rusbatch and Marques Whippy along with centre Gareth Dawson and Tongan-born Marcus Alipate.
Petermann, 18, is a point guard who has been living in Christchurch over the last 12 months. He will step up to be a full member of the squad and is studying his first year at the University of Canterbury in 2016.
NZ junior guard Nisbet, 18, has completed his Burnside High School studies and will enter his third NBL campaign. He was a member of the Canterbury U19 national championship side.
2014 Rams and former Middleton Grange School’s forward Solofuti, 24, returns to Canterbury after studying in Auckland and playing with the Super City Rangers.
Five players form the Rams development players group for the 2016 season: Quinn Clinton, Toby Gillooly, Sam Lees, Carl Isitt, and Joe Cook-Green.
These players are expected to contest for roster spots in the home games throughout the season. One or two may travel for some away trips as part of their development. Other players that are considered to have long-term potential will also be invited to participate in the programme during the season.
Guard Clinton, 16, played with the NZ U16 side that nearly defeated the Australian juniors last year and logged limited minutes with the Rams in his rookie season. He is a Year 13 student at Christchurch Boys’ High School and recently returned from the Mainland Eagles development tour of the USA.
Sharp-shooting Gillooly, 17, was Nisbet’s teammates at Burnside High School and is entering Year 13. He toured China with a NZ junior team and helped Canterbury to the U19 title in 2015.
Papanui High School forward Isitt, 17, joins the team and is could become a second-generation Rams player after his father Paul was a hard-working inside player in the 1990s.
Middleton Grange School’s former head boy guard Lees, 17, is another development player and performed well at Mainland Eagles development tour of the USA in December 2015.
Cashmere High School’s Cook-Green, 18, is also named in the development squad but will be sitting out the season due to an Achilles tear suffered late last season. His focus will be on rehabilitation, which will be assisted through the Rams and Mainland Eagles medical and sport science staff.
All of junior players above have active members of the Mainland Eagles Academy squad training every school morning at 6am under Rams Coach Mark Dickel. They all have aspirations of attending US colleges on scholarship and following the likes of Taylor Britt, Jackson Stent, Sam Timmins, Richard Rodger, Darcy Knox, who were a part of the Eagles Academy and Rams Development Players in 2015.
Three players will to be added to the roster to over the next few weeks, including two imports and one additional New Zealand player. This will give a total of 10 in the final squad plus the development players. One of the imports will be a point guard.
The team has a busy preseason preparation with games in Brisbane over Waitangi Day with five contests against Queensland Basketball League sides scheduled over February 4-8. Canterbury will also participate in the NBL Preseason Blitz over February 27-28 in Porirua against Nelson, Taranaki, Waitakere and Wellington.
Canterbury starts their NBL season on Friday 11 March against the Nelson Giants at Cowles Stadium, 7pm. Season Tickets are available for purchase on www.rams.org.nz
