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Prince Rupert basketball prodigy Liam McChesney makes Team Canada

Northcoast star debuted with Team Canada in international GLOBL JAM July 5
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Liam McChesney played his first game with Team Canada at the inaugural international GLOBL JAM on July 5. (Photo: Canada Basketball website)

Northcoast basketball star, Liam McChesney was named as a power forward to Team Canada’s Men’s U23 team and made his debut July 5 at the international GLOBL JAM tournament in Toronto.

The Canadian Men’s team started the competition off strong defeating Brazil 89-75.

This was the first of three games in the round-robin format of the tournament that will determine the order of play in the semi-finals.

Twenty-year-old McChesney is one of the youngest members of the 12-player team. He was selected after attending an 11-day training camp with 22 other Men’s U23 athletes.

Hailing from Prince Rupert, McChesney played for the Charles Hays Second Secondary School Rainmakers (CHSS) for three years. In his senior year, he led the team to win the 2A high school boy’s provincial championship and was given the accolade of MVP honours.

“We actually moved him up as a junior in grade 10. So he played three years at the varsity level,” Mel Bishop, coach of the senior boy’s basketball team at CHSS told The Northern View on July 7.

“He’s a six-foot-10 kid, with a seven-foot-two wingspan, with a 36-inch vertical jump, so he has a lot of athletic ability and [is] very coachable.”

Bishop emphasized McChesney’s young age, explaining that it means he still has a couple of years to play at the U23 level.

He also noted the “tremendous” impact that having a local athlete go on to play at the national level has had on the basketball program in Prince Rupert.

During the 2021-2022 season, McChesney played 32 games for the Illinois State Redbirds where he averaged four and a half points per game. Throughout the season he made 49 of 116 or 42 per cent of shots from the field, 15 of 49 or 31 per cent from long range and 31 out of 38 throws from the free-throw line.

GLOBL JAM Tournament Schedule for Canadian Men’s U23:

July 6, 6:00 p.m. PT (Canada vs. U.S.A.)

July 7, 6:00 p.m. PT (Canada vs. Italy)

July 9, 11:00 a.m. PT (semi-finals)

July 9, 6:00 p.m. PT (semi-finals)

July 10, 4:00 p.m. PT (championship)

READ MORE: Prince Rupert basketball prodigy accepts invite to Team Canada event


 Kaitlyn Bailey | Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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