EJ Sligo All-Stars John Carroll has been named in the Ireland senior men's basketball squad for two World Cup European Pre-Qualifiers against Switzerland and Azerbaijan over the next seven days.
Carroll has been a mainstay of the All-Stars roster this season in their push for an end-of-season play-off place in the men's Super League.
Head coach Mark Keenan has finalised a squad of 12 players who will play Switzerland and Azerbaijan this Thursday, February 20th and Sunday February 23rd respectively.
The reverse fixture of Thursday’s clash with Switzerland saw Ireland lose out 86-63 in Dublin a year ago, but just a point separated the teams when they met in two friendlies in their previous meetings.
The top team in Group A, Group B and Group C, along with the best ranked, second placed team from the three groups combined, will advance to the second phase of qualifying at the end of this window. Should Ireland finish in second place, results against the bottom placed team in the group will be nullified to determine cross-group standings, as Group B and Group C only have three teams competing.
Ireland currently sit second in Group A with a 2-2 record. Switzerland lead the table unbeaten on 4-0, with Azerbaijan and Kosovo in third and fourth on 1-3 respectively.
FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Pre-Qualifying Fixtures:
Switzerland v Ireland, Thursday February 20th, Fribourg, 18:30 (Live on TG4 Player)
Azerbaijan v Ireland, Sunday February 23rd, Baku, 13:00 (Live on TG4 Player)
Ireland Men's Squad
Adrian O’Sullivan (Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU), Conor Quinn (Belfast Star), David Lehane, Kyle Hosford, James Hannigan (UCC Demons), John Carroll (EJ Sligo All-Stars), Jordan Blount (Flexachem KCYMS), Matt Treacy (Snaefell, Iceland), Neal Quinn (Aix Maurienne Savoie Basket, France), Rapolas Buivydas (Garveys Tralee Warriors), Seán Flood (London Lions, United Kingdom), Sean Jenkins (Griffith College Éanna).
