Abbotsford's Marek Klassen will be representing Canada at the 2024 FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup, which goes down in Puerto Rico from Dec. 12 to 15.
Klassen will be joined on the team by Toronto's Grant Audu, Montreal's Jerome Desrosiers and Edmonton's Steve Sir.
This marks the national team debut for the Yale Secondary grad. He did receive an invite to the senior men's national team training camp ahead of the FIBA Men鈥檚 AmeriCup 2022, but was not chosen for that event.
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The Canadian men are currently ranked 19th and are looking for its first-ever podium finish in the event which began in 2021. Canada finished seventh in 2023 after falling in overtime 16-15 to Brazil in a quarterfinal clash last December.
Canada enters the event as the No. 3 seed and will share Group C with Argentina and one of Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Costa Rica, who will compete in qualifying draw action for a berth in the event. Fans can stream all the action live on the . canada opens the event on Friday against an opponent to be determined.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what Marek, Jerome, Steve, and Grant can accomplish as a team," stated Ron Yeung, head of domestic and 3x3 development. "We just wrapped up a highly productive training camp this past weekend in Toronto, and the energy is high. I鈥檓 confident this team will be a strong contender in San Juan, giving Canada an excellent opportunity to secure its first-ever podium performance at the FIBA Men鈥檚 3x3 AmeriCup."
Klassen has played professionally all over Europe and most recently in Poland and Greece.
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He is a former B.C. provincial player of the year and was named the B.C. AAA high school tournament鈥檚 most valuable player when he helped lead the Yale Lions to a provincial title in 2010.
Klassen is also the mind behind the Hooper IQ app, which focuses on helping athletes understand the decision making that goes into basketball. He also told The News that he will continue his professional basketball journey after the AmeriCup is over. Klassen shared that he's fielding offers from teams in Europe and also the G-League's South Bay Lakers 鈥� the affiliate team of the Los Angeles Lakers.