Welcome back to part ten 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 tenth and final edition of this series for the summer, we will be taking a look at one of the most interesting teams in the league, the Calgary Surge. With last years run to the final getting stopped just short of glory, the Surge are looking to bounce back and make another run in 2024. A mix of old and new should allow them to be competitive, but I’m not sure it’s enough to put them into proper contention.
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
Sean Miller-Moore (C)
Stefan Smith (C)
Malcolm Duvivier (C)
Corey Davis Jr. (A)
Mathieu Kamba (C)
Dondre Reddick (U)
Mike Demagus (U)
Noah Wharton (U)
Forwards
Gabe Osabuohien (C)
Emmanuel Ansah (C)
Justin Lewis (A)
Justin Jackson (C)
Billy Preston Jr. (A)
Matt Grace (C)
So Close, Yet So Far
The Surge were one of the best teams in 2023 and fell short to a hot Shooting Stars team in the final of Championship Weekend. They return one of the best guards in the league, Miller-Moore and his running mate Smith. The rest of their roster is similar to last in that they have many players that are flexible in where they can slot in, giving them lots of lineup options. I am very interested to see if they have enough talent to stack up to the top dogs in the West.
Player To Watch: Rugzy Miller-Moore
Rugzy is becoming a CEBL regular, as he will return to the Surge organization for the third straight season. He’s a tall, athletic guard that does the majority of his damage inside the arc. Great finisher at the rim and beautiful mid-range jumper. Still trying to improve on that three point jump shot. Miller-Moore is a good defender too and reads passes really well to jump them for steals. Last years team had a little bit more talent than this one, be on the lookout for him to try and do a little more every single night to get his team a win.
Outside Looking In
While I do think this Surge roster is good, I’m not sure if it has enough juice to compete with the top four “true contenders” of the league. Both the Surge and the Bandits feel like they’re in that same tier, just on the outside looking in on those big four. I will say there is definitely a possibility that they go on a major run this summer and be top dogs once again in 2024.
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