River Lions bring back Brock guard
Owootoah selected by Niagara second overall at CEBL U Sports draft
Wednesday’s Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) U Sports Draft was a case of déjà vu all over again for Emmanuel Owootoah and Lloyd Pandi.
For the second time in as many years, each received onthe-court internships in the spring-summer pro league heading into their final year at the post-secondary level. Normally, Owootoah and Pandi would have played out their eligibility at Brock and Carleton universities, respectively, but 2020-21 was anything but normal with U Sports schedules erased until further notice due to COVID-19.
Owootoah was picked second overall in the three-round draft, going to the Niagara River Lions, who also selected the five-foot-11 guard in the ’20 draft. He went on to average 1.6 points, one assist and seven minutes for the host team at the 2020 CEBL Summer Series, a single-site tournament played without fans at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
“Eman was very good for us in the Summer Series last season and earned more playing time than he received,” River Lions general manager-head coach Victor Raso said. “He has gotten stronger since last season, and we are expecting him to come in and build off the confidence he gained last year.”
Owootoah, a 25-year-old native of Toronto, began his collegiate career at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Fresno State. He won a Canadian national championship with Carleton in 2017 before transferring to Brock. He suffered a seasonending injury early in ’19-20.
Pandi went to Niagara with the sixth pick in the second round. Last year, the six-footfour guard averaged 8.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 22 minutes for the Ottawa BlackJackets at the Summer Series.
The 21-year-old Ottawa native was named the league’s U Sports player of the year after leading the expansion BlackJackets in field goal percentage, at .486, and offensive rebounds, with 2.3 per game.
“Lloyd is a phenomenal young man who proved as a U Sports rookie that he can not only play at our level, but contribute to winning in a meaningful way,” Raso said.
“Lloyd is versatile, tough and will make us better instantly. We are thrilled to be able to add the U Sports player of the year to our roster for 2021 and are incredibly excited to have him on board.”
Niagara’s third pick in the draft — six-foot-10 forward Grant Shephard — played three seasons at the University of British Columbia before transferring to Carleton. The 22year-old native of Kelowna, B.C., was drafted by the Fraser Valley Bandits during the inaugural CEBL U Sports draft in 2019.
Raso said the River Lions are “thrilled” to be able to add Shephard.
“As an athletic forward with great size, we believe Grant will bolster our frontcourt and challenge our bigs for playing time immediately,” he said. “Grant is someone that we would like to help in his development process and keep in our program for years to come.” Canada Basketball named Shepherd to the senior men’s national team for the third FIBA AmeriCup 2022 qualifying tournament that took place two months ago in Puerto Rico.
Picking first were the Saskatchewan Rattlers, who selected Nervens Demosthene, 25, of Terrebonne, Que., a Montreal suburb. The six-foot-two guard averaged 13 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 54 games at the collegiate level for Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Que.
Pending approval from government and public health authorities, the River Lions, who play home games out of Meridian Centre, hope to tip off a 14game regular season on the road Thursday, June 10, against the Hamilton Honey Badgers.