After a bitter ending loss at the Caribana Classic last weekend to Team OVO (featuring Amir Johnson), the PHASE 1 Elite men’s team got a second chance to prove themselves against reputable competition as they played against the College of Charleston at Ryerson University on August 9th. Get Recruited Canletes Lee Anna Osei caught up with Elite 1 team GM Chris Blackwood to talk about the exhibition.

 

Elite 1 branches from PHASE 1 Basketball, and is composed of athletes who have experience playing professionally and have had great college careers. The team features Toronto legends like Denham Brown (Connecticut) and Kevin Francis (Cleveland State), while also adding some talented youngsters like recent college grad Alex Johnson (NC State).

 

Chris Blackwood, also well-known for his playing days and his recent involvement in the community is the teams GM. “Roy Rana and I have a wonderful relationship stemming from his days coaching at CW Jefferys. He’s currently the Head coach of the men’s basketball team, and he noticed what I was doing, with Elite1, so he decided to help us out with this tremendous opportunity to play against a D1 school.”

 

“As a GM of this team, I knew that we would have to bulk up in the front court and have excellent guard play, and adding length wouldn't hurt either.  So our Elite1 team was ready for whatever Charleston was going to throw at us.  Charleston has an exceptional balance of length, speed, and power. It was a well matched up game. I'm just grateful we finished on top.”

 

With most of the Elite 1 players having played at the Division 1 level Blackwood described the game as being a “sea-saw battle from the beginning to the end” Charleston jumped to a 9-2 lead, but the rest of the game saw multiple lead changes throughout.

 

“Our front court guys Kevin, Mike, Ryan, and Donrick started protecting the paint on defense and finishing around the hoop consistently on offense.  Our guards Marlo, Nat, and Alex did a wonderful job of putting pressure on the perimeter, penetrating and kicking it out, and knocking down timely jumpers from the perimeter.  And Denham Brown did an excellent job of scoring in the clutch by knocking down 3 fade away jumpers (from the mid range) to seal the game.  All in all, it was a collective effort.”

 

This isn’t the first time that a Division 1 school has travelled across the border to play against a hometown team. Last summer Elite 1 played Bowling Green and Duquesne University as part of their summer schedule. 

 

“Whenever you get the opportunity to play against a NCAA Division 1 school you always want to play well and win the game.  The majority of our team played D1 basketball so it was nothing new to them in regards to the challenge at hand.  Also, the majority of time when D1 schools come down to Canada to play against our top CIS or OCAA teams they usually win convincingly at our expense.  This Elite1 team really wanted the Charleston players and coaching staff to respect the talent we have in our wonderful country.”

 

“Hopefully we will get more opportunities to play against NCAA talent, CIS talent, and OCAA talent because our Elite1 players still have aspirations of playing professional basketball and these games will be great for them to stay in game shape.  At the end of the day, Elite1 basketball is a stable for our professional and future professionals to stay on top of their game and be prepared for that "call up".

 

Until then, Elite 1 will play in local tournaments and exhibitions like this weekend’s Annual Jane and Finch “Stop the violence” tournament as they look to end  their summer schedule on a high note.

 

Elite 1 Team Roster: 

 

1.  Kevin Francis.      SF   6'7    200lbs.

2.  Denham Brown.   SG   6'6    215lbs.

3.  Marlo Davis.        PG   6'0.    170lbs.

4.  Ryan Wright.      F/C   6'9    240lbs.

5.  Mike Fraser.      F/C   6'8    240lbs

6.  Nat Mitchell.       PG    5'9    185lbs

7.  Donrick Thomas. G/F    6'4  175lbs.

8.  Alex Johnson.     PG.    5'10.  176lbs.

 

Lee Anna Osei @GetRecruitedCan