Donegal’s Killian Gribben has been included in the Ireland U18 men’s Basketball squad as they build towards the European Championships next summer.
The 6’8′ forward who play’s out of St Eunan’s College, Letterkenny Blaze and LYIT successfully navigated the practice sessions to gain inclusion.
Gribben was one of six selected that competed for Ireland in European qualifiers for the FIBA U17 Skills Challenge 2020.
The squad also includes 6’9” forward/centre ND Okafor (11 caps), who is with the NBA Academy in Mexico. In total there are seven players based abroad in the squad, three of those are in the USA.
Ireland U18 men’s head coach Paul Kelleher said: “This has been an extensive process, and one that we have thoroughly enjoyed with all the players.
However, we had to make decisions and difficult one’s at that. We believe in this group, we have a lot of pieces that we can put together to make a cohesive unit for next summer. We will move forward with this group, and see what happens at the next selection phase. All our staff and very much looking forward to working with this group now.”
| First Name: | Surname: | Age: | Height: | School: | Club: | Position: | Caps: |
| Samuel | Badejo | 17 | 6’3” | De La Salle, Dundalk | Dundalk Ravens, Dundalk | Forward | * |
| Reece | Barry | 16 | 6’3” | St. Munchins College, Limerick | Limerick Lions, Limerick | Forward | 2 |
| Ben | Burke | 16 | 6’0” | Calasanctius College, Galway | Maree BC, Oranmore, Galway | Guard | * |
| Joseph | Coughlan | 16 | 6’1” | St. Joseph’s College (The Bish), Galway | Galway Titans, Galway | Guard | * |
| Ruairi | Cronin | 16 | 6’3” | Castletroy College, Limerick | Limerick Celtics | Guard | * |
| Aodhan | Daly | 16 | 6’6” | Barking Abbey, London, England | Barking Abbey, London, England | Forward | * |
| Ryan | Djoussa | 17 | 6’8” | Trinity Byrnes, SC, USA | Team Renegade Elite, USA | Forward | 13 |
| Clinton | Efinda | 17 | 6’5” | Lawrence Woodmere Academy, New York, USA | Midwest Basketball Club, Ohio, USA | Guard | 14 |
| Joe | Ensko | 17 | 6’7” | St. Coleman’s College, Fermoy | Neptune BC, Cork | Forward | * |
| Wede | Esajobar | 17 | 6’1” | St. Oliver’s College, Drogheda | Drogheda Wolves, Drogheda | Guard | 13 |
| Darragh | Ferguson | 17 | 6’3” | St. Malachy’s College, Belfast | Belfast Star, Belfast | Guard | 14 |
| Brian | Gaffney | 17 | 6’0” | St. Joseph’s College (The Bish), Galway | Galway Titans, Galway | Guard | * |
| Killian | Gribben | 17 | 6’8” | St. Eunan’s College, Letterkenny | Letterkenny Blaze/LYIT, Letterkenny | Forward | * |
| Mobi | Ikegwuruka | 17 | 6’5” | Get Better Academy, Czech Republic | Get Better Academy, Czech Republic | Guard | 14 |
| Cillian | O’Connell | 17 | 5’11” | Pobalscoil Na Trionade, Youghal | Ballincollig BC, Cork | Guard | * |
| Jack | O’Leary | 17 | 6’1” | Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney | Blue Demons BC, Cork | Guard | 2 |
| Michael | O’Mahony | 17 | 6’5” | Douglas Community College, Cork | Fr. Matthews BC, Cork | Guard/Forward | 13 |
| Daniel | O’Sullivan | 17 | 6’1” | Patrician Academy, Mallow | Neptune BC, Cork | Guard | * |
| Jamie | O’Sullivan | 17 | 6’4” | St. Brendan’s, Killarney | St. Paul’s, Killarney | Forward | * |
| Roniel | Oguekwe | 17 | 6’7” | John Madejski Academy, Reading, England | Reading Rockets, Reading, England | Forward | 14 |
| ND | Okafor | 17 | 6’9” | NBA Academy, Mexico | NBA Academy, Mexico | Forward/Centre | 11 |
| Sean | Pollman-Daamen | 17 | 6’2” | Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee | Ballymac Bobcats, Kerry | Guard | 13 |
| Tim | Pollman-Daamen | 17 | 6’1” | Mercy Mounthawk, Tralee | Ballymac Bobcats, Kerry | Guard | 13 |
| Ajay | Ryan Walsh | 17 | 6’7” | Castletroy College, Limerick | Limerick Lions, Limerick | Forward | * |
| Silas | Sunday | 17 | 7’1” | Our Savior Lutheran, New York, USA | New York Lightning, USA | Centre | * |
*denotes uncapped players
