Former Footballer of the Year Kieran Donaghy has been named in the Irish senior men's basketball squad - although his additional commitments are not set to interfere with his role on the Kerry panel this season.
The Irish basketball squad compete competitively every second year, and their next outing will be at the 2018 Small Nations Tournament the summer after next. Tuesday morning’s squad announcement signals the beginning of preparations for that competition.
Donaghy has excelled as the leader of a young Tralee Warriors team, who are third in the men's Super League, and in with a great chance of reaching the playoffs. Their season will be finished by April 2nd.
The three-time All Star attacker was awarded Most Valuable Player in the National Intermediate Cup final in January 2016, but Tralee’s return to National League basketball this season has required an increased commitment from the 34-year-old .
Donaghy has yet to feature for Kerry in the 2017 season, but his commitments with Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s panel are not set to clash with his basketball duties as the season progresses.
The Kerry manager explained earlier in the year that Donaghy would be training once a week with his squad, and that he would see game time before the end of the league.
The Irish squad are expected to play a sharply ran off friendly competition during the summer, as well as meeting for a handful of training sessions/camps during the current calendar year. The first of which being in April.
Irish senior men's head coach Pete Strickland announced his initial panel of 20 players on Friday - with eight of the 12 Super League teams represented. Four Irish players who are currently playing basketball overseas also feature on the list.
Speaking about the squad announcement Strickland stated: “Selecting just twenty from a far more expansive grouping of quality players in the country was difficult. Nonetheless, preparing for the 2018 Small Nations Tournament demands that we now begin the process of building a team that all Irish basketball players, indeed, all of Ireland, can be proud of.
“Training will commence this April, allowing our team members to complete their respective seasons with their current club and university teams.”
Irish squad: Adrian O'Sullivan (UCC Demons), Cian Sullivan (La Salle University), Ciaran O'Sullivan (UCC Demons), Ciaran Roe (Pyrobel Killester), Colin O'Reilly (UCC Demons), Conor Meany (UCD Marian), Daniel James (UCD Marian), Eoghain Kiernan (Pyrobel Killester), Issac Westbrooks (Griffith Swords Thunder), Jason Killeen (Templeogue), John Carroll (University of Hartford), Jordan Blount (University of Illinois), Keelan Cairns (Belfast Star), Kieran Donaghy (Garvey's Tralee Warriors), Lorcan Murphy (Templeogue), Neil Randolph (Templeogue), Paul Dick (most recently Fuenlabrada, Madrid), Paul Freeman (SSE Airtricity Moycullen), Roy Downey (UCC Demons), Ryan Leonard (Garvey's Tralee Warriors).
