Ottawa BlackJacks Announce 2023 Training Camp Roster
The team adds two players to its roster, including Cole Syllas and Marc-André Fortin
The Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Friday its official training camp roster in preparation for the 2023 CEBL season.
Led by General Manager and Vice-President of Basketball Operations, Jevohn Shepherd and Head Coach, James Derouin, Ottawa’s current training camp roster is comprised of 12 players including two new additions; six-foot-five Guard Cole Syllas, and six-foot-eight Centre Marc-André Fortin. Additional players will be joining the team at the conclusion of their current international season.
Syllas, who starred with Queen's Men's Basketball and helped them earn the program's best record (17-5) in over 50 years, was named a 2022-23 U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian, the first in Queen's men's basketball program history. A fourth-year guard, Syllas was also named an OUA First Team All-Star, helping the Gaels to their second straight U SPORTS Final 8 Championship appearance. Syllas averaged 17.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game in 2022-23 and now sits in the Top 10 in program history in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals.
Drafted 19th overall by the Montreal Alliance during the 2022 CEBL U SPORTS Draft, Fortin averaged 5.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16 games played with Bayer Giants Leverkusen in Germany in 2022-23. Fortin played his first collegiate season with Sam Houston State University in the NCAA Division I before transferring to the University of Laval. A RSEQ First Team All-Star in 2021-22, the six-foot-eight centre had his best statistical season that year averaging 12.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, while shooting .511 from the field. A native of Sainte-Marie, Quebec, Fortin played at Cégep de Sainte-Foy, averaging 12.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Highlights of the 2023 Ottawa BlackJacks roster include two players with NBA G League experience (Elijah Pemberton, Matt Coleman III), five returning BlackJacks players (Guillaume Pépin, Jackson Rowe, Kadre Gray, Maxime Boursiquot, Zena Edosomwan), four American imports (Elijah Pemberton, Matt Coleman III, Michael Flowers, Zena Edosomwan), two U SPORTS players (Cole Syllas, Guillaume Pépin) and nine NCAA Division I alumni.
Two players have ties to the nation’s capital: Ottawa-native Boursiquot, and a four-year veteran for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, Pépin.
The BlackJacks 20-game regular season will tip off with a game at home versus Brampton on May 24, 2023, at 7:30pm. Season seat memberships, Flex Packs, group tickets and single game tickets are available attheblackjacks.ca/tickets. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact the Ottawa BlackJacks Membership Services team directly at 613-690-0519 or by email at [email protected].
Quotes:
“The coaching staff and I have put together a talented roster, but more importantly, a group of athletes who are hungry and humble. We have signed versatile players who perform well at various positions.”
- Jevohn Shepherd, General Manager and Vice-President, Basketball Operations
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