It was a very successful run at provincials for the Ottawa Next Level U17 and U19 programs.
The two oldest teams in the association finished 6th and 9th in Ontario, respectively, and both U17 teams ranked among the top 20 teams in the province as well.
This weekend, Coach Andrew DiMillo will bring a star-studded lineup to the Canadian National Invitational Tournament (CNIT) in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in hopes of achieving a greater goal- a national title!
The roster consists primarily of the top players from the ONL U19 program- guards Ali Sow and Elijah Davidson from U19 Serresse-Wilson; point guards Kevin Metelus and Ali Al-Shaher, as well as forwards Zerious Loney, Bigus Bangoura, Brad Ruhamyandekwe, Sam Douf and Almin Dervisevic from U19 DiMillo; big man Josh Stephens from U17 Hannah; and young guards Abe Rajab and Austin Gilfillen of U17 Raizenne.
From U19 DiMillo, rookie standout Sam Douf makes the trip to Southern Ontario for the CNIT after a very impressive performance at provincials this past season.
"We really wanted to assemble a group with a mix of experience and youth, size and agility... And I think we have the full package with this group" said DiMillo, who will be coaching an ONL team at the CNIT for the 2nd consecutive summer.
Last season, Ottawa Next Level attended the inaugural CNIT (which took place in Burlington, Ontario), finishing with a respectable 2-1 record.
Metelus, Bangoura, Loney and Dervisevic were also on that team, and will look to build on last year's showing.
Zerious Loney, a 5th year forward who plans to attend the Algonquin College Thunder in September, did not want to pass up on the opportunity to head to his final high school event.
"It's a chance to play against great teams and great players and show what we can do", said Loney. "It's my last high school tournament so I'm gonna give it all I got."
DiMillo's squad heads into the tournament ranked 9th out of 16 teams in the 17U bracket, and will play in a pool with top ranked UPlay Canada, OBA Silver medallist Waterloo Wolverines, and unknown 3 Kings Basketball.
While expectations from across the province may be fairly low, DiMillo says his team should not be overlooked.
"We definitely have the talent and chemistry to compete with anybody. We always get overlooked because we aren't in the GTA, but this group has been Top 10 in Ontario for the past 4 or 5 years."
In their tournament preview, basketball scouting service and tournament co-ordinators North Pole Hoops described the ONL team as "scrappy", something that suits Coach DiMillo just fine.
"We have that reputation for a reason. We aren't gonna make it easy on any team. We're gonna win battles and make them hate playing us. That's what we work on over the course of the season".
NPH described guard Ali Sow as a "bucket getter" after having seen him in the 16U CNIT last year as a member of of Toronto Prep Program BTB Elite.
The CNIT will be the final high school level tournament for Metelus, Dervisevic, Bangoura, Ruhamyandekwe, and Loney, while youngsters Stephens, Rajab and Gilfillen will use their first CNIT as a stepping stone for their senior years.
For live tournament updates throughout the weekend, please follow @ONL_Basketball on Twitter. To catch live streams of all of Ottawa Next Level games, be sure to check out:
https://athelink.com/my!/sport/applications/tracker/mobile/?lid=98
ONL plays their first game on Friday morning at 10:30 am.
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