With just 12 days to go until the 2024 CEBL season tips off with the “Battle of Alberta”, let’s go over each of the 10 teams rosters and what I think you should expect from each of them! I will also give a little sneak peek into where I may have them placed in my prediction for the summer.
The first team I want to visit are the Niagara River Lions. In 2023, the River Lions lost in the Conference Finals to the eventual champions, the Scarborough Shooting Stars. While having had a loaded roster last summer, they have reloaded and added to their already strong contingent. Here is their roster make-up for 2024.
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
Khalil Ahmad (A)
Jahvon Henry-Blair (C)
Kimball Mackenzie (C)
Omari Moore (A)
Luka Syllas (U)
Jerry Jr. Mercury (U)
Forwards
Eddie Ekiyor (C)
Antonio Davis Jr. (A)
T.J. Lall (C)
Nathan Cayo (C)
Elijah Lufile (C)
Aaryn Rai (C)
Jordan Tchuente (U)
Loudon Love (A)
Running It Back
As mentioned above, the River Lions lost in a tight battle to the Shooting Stars in last summers Conference Finals at Championship Weekend. Niagara is determined to get back there, and challenge for a title once more. Not only have they brought back almost the exact same roster, they’ve improved on it with a couple key additions. Bringing in Nathan Cayo from Montréal and Aaryn Rai should be key contributors for this already stacked roster.
Player To Watch: Khalil Ahmad
It’s so hard to pick a different player to watch other than Ahmad. He’s filled his cupboards full of CEBL awards already, along with nominations for others. He is truly the key to this River Lions squad, and puts their ceiling where it is currently. He will lead this team in scoring and be their main defensive anchor at the same time. Special stuff.
King Of The Hill
This is one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference. This is a team that could push for 15-16 wins this season and roll into the playoffs. What makes them so dangerous is their main key to lockdown opponents, have versatile defenders and just be complete pests on that end of the floor. They’ll have many different scoring options, while also scoring most of their points behind the arc. Their entire lineup are two-way players, which is so rare and makes them so dangerous.
Follow along as each day leading up to the May 21st opener, I will be releasing a team overview of all the squads in the CEBL for 2024!
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