MIAMI (United States) - Canada Basketball has announced the core roster for their Senior Men’s National Team program made up of 14 players heading into the third FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers window.

These players will be representing Canada between now, starting on Jul. 1 playing in front of a home crowd against Dominican Republic at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ont. for their first game of the third window of qualifying, up until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Currently ranked 18th in the world after missing out on the Olympic after the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria, B.C. last year, Canada has had their core players agree to a three-year commitment to the Senior Men’s National Team.

The summer core, coached by Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, is comprised of many NBA, international and NCAA standouts, including Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Utah Jazz, RJ Barrett of the New York Knicks, Khem Birch of the Toronto Raptors, Oshae Brissett of the Indiana Pacers, Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies, Zach Edey of Purdue University, Melvin Ejim of Cedevita Olimpija, Luguentz Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kelly Olynyk and Cory Joseph of the Detroit Pistons, Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets, Dwight Powell of the Dallas Mavericks and Team Canada veteran Kevin Pangos.

Nurse also coached the team during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China, where Canada where Pangos, Ejim, Joseph, and Birch were all part of the roster where Canada finished 21st in the competition.

Joseph was also part of Team Canada’s roster for Tokyo 2020, as were Alexander-Walker, Barrett, Dort and Powell.

Nate Bjorkgren and Nathaniel Mitchell will coach beside Nurse on the bench as assistants, as the two were named associate head coaches leading Canada through the November and February windows of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers.

Canada Basketball has unveiled their summer roster as a complement to their winter roster who competed in the first two windows of qualifiers as well as the FIBA AmeriCup 2022 qualifiers that includes players like Thomas and Phil Scrubb, Kyle Alexander, Kyle Wiltjer and Aaron Best.

Canada is in Group C for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers and will face the Dominican Republic, US Virgin Islands and Bahamas. Canada remains undefeated with a 4-0 record through the first two windows of the competition.

16 teams from the Americas, made from the Caribbean, North America, Central America, and South America are playing for a chance to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, with the six qualifying windows concluding in February 2023.

Seven teams from the Americas will qualify for FIBA’s flagship men’s event, which will be held in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10, 2023.

FIBA