Mississauga’s Jaelin Llewellyn Selected to Basketball Canada Cadet Men’s National Team Camp
By Ryan Greco
Mississauga’s Jaelin Llewellyn Selected to Basketball Canada Cadet Men’s National Team Camp
Basketball Canada announced yesterday that 15-year-old Mississauga native Jaelin Llewellyn, along with 17 other hopefuls, will be a part of the upcoming Cadet Men’s National Easter Camp at Humber College’s North Campus in Etobicoke.
More from Toronto Sports
- How do the Buffalo Bills move on from heartbreaking loss to Chiefs?
- Suspension to Maple Leafs’ Jason Spezza shows lack of consistency
- Toronto FC: Michael Bradley puts blame on players after embarrassing loss
- Toronto Sports: 6 times fans crossed the line (on camera)
- Toronto Raptors: Depth help is reportedly on the way
The camp will run from April 3 until April 6, and will determine who will represent Canada in the upcoming U16 FIBA Americas in Bahia Blanca, Argentina from June 10-14.
Llewellyn, a product of CIA Bounce and Father Michael Goetz Secondary School, was instrumental in helping the Goetz Gators make it to the Senior Boys ROPSSAA semi-finals this past March, before falling to the nationally ranked St. Edmund Campion Bears.
An impressive feat considering the six-foot-one guard is still only in the tenth grade.
Meanwhile, the soft-spoken Llewellyn is taking the selection in stride.
“It still really hasn’t sunk in how far I’ve made it,” said Llewellyn. “I know a lot of players would want to be where I am, so I am not going to take it for granted.”
When asked to try and describe what this selection means to him, Llewellyn responded by saying, “being selected to this training camp is an honour. It lets me know that all the hard work I’ve put in with the Canada Basketball program is paying off. It’s just an amazing feeling to think that me and 17 other players are representing all of Canadian basketball for this age [group].”
It’s one thing to be invited to this camp, but luckily for Llewellyn, the odds are also in his favour to actually make the cut for the team.
“I’m going into this weekend with the attitude that I’m going to make the decision hard for all of the coaches. I’m not going to make it easy for them to choose someone over me.” – Jaelin Llewellyn
It’s also a GTA dominated list, with 13 of the 18 players hailing from within an hour drive of Toronto. Also, a staggering seven of those players have played in some form or another with the powerhouse AAU program CIA Bounce, including Llewellyn.
Surprisingly though, Grant Shepard from Kelowna was the lone player invited from British Columbia, while not a single player was chosen from either the Prairie or Atlantic provinces.
For whatever reason, Basketball Canada has chosen to roll with a fairly tight-knit group of players that have a lot of experience playing together for this upcoming tournament — something that only furthers Llewellyn’s chances of making the cut.
“It’s crazy to think that I’m being given a chance to represent Canada globally if I do make the final cut,” said Llewellyn. “I know there are a lot of good players in this final group of 18, and I’m going into this weekend with the attitude that I’m going to make the decision hard for all the coaches. I’m not going to make it easy for them to choose someone over me.”
If Llewellyn plays to his potential this weekend, he won’t have to worry too much about the coaches decisions.
Source:Ryan Greco/Tipofthetower.com
As stated before, he stands at six-foot-one and can best be described in my own words as an athletic combo guard that plays the game much like his demeanor, with a calm and steady approach to each play, preferring to let the game come to him, rather than rushing decisions.
Against average defenders, Llewellyn is great at creating his own space to get shots off, but it will be intriguing to see how he handles himself against some of the best defenders in the country at his age.
Physically, he might be one of the most unassuming players I’ve ever come across. He can look almost emotionless on the court, yet play with incredible intensity when he knows his team needs a bucket or a big defensive stop. His long arms and explosiveness allows him to dunk with ease. He is also very comfortable taking contact in the paint against bigger players and has an impressive outside shot.
His only real blemish I’ve heard from scouts and coaches around the city, is that he might in fact be too unselfish, and that he could stand to gain a few extra pounds to help with his finishing under the rim.
However at the end of the day, we are talking about a kid who hasn’t even celebrated his sixteenth birthday!
Needless to say, the weight will come, and being too unselfish in a setting like this camp may in fact play to his favour when running the point.
But whatever the outcome may be after this weekend, one thing is for certain, Llewellyn is just getting started in his basketball career and this will definitely not be the last time you hear of him.