Welcome back to part three of my ten part series previewing every single team for the 2024 CEBL season. This is a daily series where I will choose to preview one of the 10 teams in the league, which will lead up to my complete overview and predictions piece! These articles will go over who is on each of the rosters, followed by some main headlines to lookout for, and ending off with a little sneak peak at my prediction for that teams finish.
In the third edition of this series, we are going to take a look at a team that I think has the most question marks going into this summer, the Brampton Honey Badgers. This is a team that is missing a good chunk of their roster from last season (many of their main contributors) and are looking for answers. This team's success may hinge on some mid-summer additions or some of their younger roster players to take a leap.
Legend
-Sorted by “Guards” and “Forwards”
-Canadians will be identified by “(C)”
-American imports will be identified by “(A)”
-If applicable, International imports will be identified by “(I)”
-U Sports draftees will be identified by “(U)”
-If applicable, Development players will be identified by “(D)”
Guards
LJ Thorpe (A)
Javonte Cooke (A)
Kevin Kangu (C)
Jevon Brown (C)
Callum Baker (U)
Cole Syllas (U)
David Walker (U)
Forwards
Prince Oduro (C)
Zane Waterman (A)
Shamiel Stevenson (C)
Yaw Obeng-Mensah (C)
Ayub Nurhussien (D)
Petros Melissaratos (I)
Lincoln Rosebush (C)
Akeem Clarke (C)
Who Will Step Up?
While the CEBL is known for it's roster turnover, for the most part many of the main stars return for teams year after year. For this Honey Badgers squad they are missing a couple of important players from their runs the last couple seasons: Christian Vital, Jeremiah Tilmon, Kobe McEwan, and Cody John. With only three returning players from last summer, new head coach Sheldon Cassimy will have his hands full with trying to work with a squad that is young, and less pro experience. Look to Cooke or Thorpe to take that burden for this squad.
Player To Watch: U Sports Draft Picks
For such a young roster, you wonder what hinges on Brampton's success in 2024. To me, it will be on each of the three picks from this years U Sports draft. All three of them have previous experience in the league and have even contributed significantly for those teams, specifically Walker last season with the Shooting Stars. Baker, Syllas, and Walker all may have important roles in the Honey Badgers rotation just based on where the roster makeup is at. All three are also coming off of fantastic season collegiately and will look to continue that momentum here. Brampton has the best draft class of any of the teams and we will see if they can produce.
Not Enough Juice
This Honey Badgers team has so many question marks, with not as many key returnees, their younger less experienced roster and another new coach. It's hard for me to see this team find a spot in the playoffs this summer with the level of talent this roster has. They might surprise me if someone other than Cooke or Thorpe breakout, or as I predict a lesser Eastern Conference spot could fall into their lap. While the conference is much lesser than previous years, it is still hard to advocate for this team to be higher up in the standings.
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