Ottawa BlackJacks Announce 2025 CEBL Draft Picks

The Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), Canada’s largest professional sports league, announced today their three selections from the 2025 CEBL Draft.

Every Canadian post-secondary student-athlete playing in Canada was eligible to be drafted into the league in what is a coveted opportunity for top Canadian post-secondary student-athletes to experience professional basketball.

The three-round draft consisting of 30 total picks saw the BlackJacks select the following players:

Round 1, Pick 4: Justin Ndjock-Tadjoré, Forward, University of Ottawa

A 6’7” native of Gatineau, Que. who returns to the BlackJacks after previously being selected by the team in the second round of the 2024 CEBL Draft. He has played the last two seasons with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA) after transferring from St. Bonaventure University in the NCAA where he appeared 13 times for the Bonnies across two seasons including appearances in first and second round NIT Tournament contests during the 2021-22 campaign. This year, he helped the University of Ottawa to a U SPORTS bronze medal for a third consecutive campaign after the school compiled their best regular season record (20-2) since 2013-14. His .508 field goal percentage was the eighth best mark in the conference while his 29.6 minutes per-game average was the 15th highest total among all OUA student-athletes.

Round 2, Pick 17:  Alvin Icyogere, Guard, Nipissing University 

The first ever CEBL draft pick from Nipissing University, Icyogere joins his hometown team following his most successful U SPORTS season to date. The junior averaged 15.4 points per-game during the regular season to sit 17th among all OUA student-athletes while also placing in the top 10 leaguewide in minutes per-game (31.2) and three-point field goals (52). A career 82 percent shooter from the free throw line, he has exceeded 30 points in a game on four separate occasions during his collegiate career highlighted by a 39-point effort on 12/2/23 at Laurentian which featured a personal single-game high 10 made three-point field goals. 

Round 3, Pick 24:  Malik Grant, Forward, Humber Polytechnic

His selection sees him become the first collegiate player chosen by the BlackJacks in CEBL Draft history following a season in which he became the third student-athlete in Humber Hawks (OCAA) history to be named OCAA Player of the Year and the 16th to garner CCAA All-Canadian Honours. A 6’6” native of Brampton, Ont., he was recognized as the CCAA Championship MVP after averaging 16.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per-game as Humber claimed the national title. Beginning his collegiate career with Kilgore Junior College in 2020-21, he transferred to the University of New Brunswick (AUS) in 2022-23 and sat fourth in the conference in assists (75) while starting each of the 20 games in which he appeared.

“Our 2025 draft class is a very talented and versatile group of players who have all proven their ability to compete and contribute at a high level in U SPORTS and the CCAA,” said BlackJacks general manager James Derouin. “We are very confident that this group will add to a strong track record the BlackJacks have of developing Canadian talent. Former Development Players such as Lloyd Pandi and Keevan Veinot have been an important part of our recent success and we believe that this year’s draft class will continue that trend. We’re very happy to welcome Justin, Alvin and Malik to our team and can’t wait to see them this summer as they continue to develop both on and off the court as young professionals.”

The BlackJacks three selections in the 2025 CEBL Draft represent over 200 games of collegiate experience with action across the NCAA, U SPORTS and CCAA with five total national championship medals between them. Each student-athlete averaged at least 14.5 points per-game for their respective clubs this season to rank in the top 20 among scorers in each of their conferences.

Flexible ticket packages are currently available to purchase by visiting theblackjacks.ca/tickets.

BlackJacks 2025 season-seat memberships are available now. For additional details, fans are encouraged to email [email protected] or call 613-690-0519.



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