Montrealers playing elite basketball in NCAA
Posted August 23, 2022 11:09 am.
Last Updated August 23, 2022 9:07 pm.
The NCAA University of Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team played the McGill Redbirds in a pre-season game Sunday, part of their Canadian tour. And on the American team: Montrealers Keeshawn Barthélémy and Quincy Guerrier.
The city now with many elite basketball stars, including current NBAer Chris Boucher – who also played for Oregon.
In recent years, the Ducks recruiting multiple basketball players from Canada and their 2022-23 roster features three more.
“Once I started playing, at 15, 16 I knew I had a chance,” said Barthélémy. “But I didn’t know I would get to those boundaries where I could play in front, in front of a good crowd for Oregon men’s basketball. And I’m super grateful for where I came from and where I’m now. And it’s only going up from here. So I’m happy.”
“I grew up in RDP. I went to Jean-Grou for my first two years in high school, and after that I went to Thetford Academy for four and a half years,” explained Guerrier. “I think after my first year, I started to believe in myself. I always dreamt a lot, but after that, I thought it was gonna be a reality and one day maybe play at the highest level.”
Quebec has been witnessing tremendous growth and development in basketball in recent years. Many say that part of that was young people seeing that dreams come true with the Toronto Raptors winning a championship for the first time in 2019 – and local talent making it to the pros, like Boucher and Khem Birch. They’ve left their mark on young talent and helped them believe in themselves – that they too could make it to the highest levels of basketball.
“I always see us as a youngin’, like you’re only as good as your big brothers, because those guys are always the ones that paved the way for us and create like a lot of opportunities for us to really showcase our talent – and play Division 1 basketball. So it’s all up to the big boys and the guys that have came before us,” added Barthélémy.
#WATCH: “Once I started playing, at 15, 16 I knew I had a chance,” said @TheKee09, who now plays for the NCAA University of Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team. One of multiple Montrealers making their mark on the sport.
READ: https://t.co/eh8oMpioTZ@WalaAmara9 @OregonMBB pic.twitter.com/fybnwGAAlJ
— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) August 23, 2022
“I think maybe the championship we won in Toronto, it opens eyes for everybody,” explained Boucher, who was on hand to watch Sunday’s game. “Quebec has many talented hockey, soccer [players], and basketball is one of them. I think you can see it when you see people make it to the league. It’s the greatest thing. It started with me, Khem Birch, and a lot of other guys… you can see there’s a generation coming and they want to play too.”
“Oregon… all my coaches are still there and stuff, so there’s an opportunity to see them. And Quincy is playing now, so it’s really good. Like I said, I think we need to show people Montreal a little bit more and obviously a lot of people are talented in Quebec, so I think they see what college basketball is and what’s the next level looking like. Maybe it’s going to be a good opportunity for them.”
With so many talented Montreal basketball players putting Quebec on the map for basketball, the sky’s the limit for what can be achieved on the court.
“Listen to what people have to say and work on your game. And if you work on your game, you always have a chance to achieve something,” said Guerrier. “I’m aiming for the NBA next year and then just gotta keep working on my game.”
Oregon beat McGill 102-48. They play Carleton Aug. 23, McMaster Aug. 25, and Toronto Metropolitan University on Aug. 26.
