The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH American head coach Chris DeMarco now committed to coaching Bahamian Jonquel Jones and the New York Liberty in the WNBA, collegiate assistant coach Mikhail McLean said he's eager to take over the reigns.

McLean and his coaching staff will assemble a total of 24 players in Miami, Florida on Friday for a five-day training camp before the final 12 selections are made for Team Bahamas for the final two games of the first round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 America Qualifiers.

The Bahamas, currently in fourth place in Group B with a 1-3 win-loss record, will host Jamaica on Friday, July 3 at 8pm and Puerto Rico on Monday, July 6 at 7:10pm at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

The Bahamas won their opener against Jamaica with a 99-96 decision on Thursday, February 26, but lost to Puerto Rico 71-66 on Sunday, March 11 in games played overseas in the home-and-away series. 

McLean, who was a part of the games played as an assistant to DeMarco, said they are hoping to build some chemistry and get ready to roll when they host their opponents at home.McLean, also an assistant coach for the Bluejays men's basketball team at the University of Kentucky, said with the departure of DeMarco, he is pleased to take over the foundation that was left in place.

"We are in a position where we have a team that is good enough to go out there and compete with anybody," McLean said.

"So taking over now is a really good time to take the team to the next level."The players invited to the training camp are Deyton Albury, Deandre Ayton, Lathaniel Bastian, Domnick Bridgewater, Jaraun Burrows, Garvin Clarke Jr, Rashad Davis, Romad Dean, VJ Edgecombe, Donovan Freeman, Eric Gordon, Buddy Hield, Samuel Hunter, Kai Jones, Fredrick King Jr, Aaron Levarity, Tavario Miller, Franco Miller Jr, Isaiah Mobley, Travis Munnings, Leano Rolle, Valentino Simon, Kentwan Smith and AJ Storr.

As one of the veterans invited to the camp, Burrows said he's looking forward to reuniting with all of the players.

"We have a good team heading to the training camp, so it's all about rebuilding the chemistry," he said. "We know that we have to step our game up and qualify for the World Cup.

"With all of our top players coming home again, we have a chance to show the Bahamian public the level of talent that we have to put on the floor. So to get our best all together and to represent the country is exciting."

McLean said all of that excitement is due in part to LJ Rose, the general manager, who has been given the green light by the BBF to assemble the best team possible."

A lot of credit goes to LJ Rose," McLean said. 

"He's worked tremendously over the last four years in putting and keeping all of this talent together.

"Buddy Hield has always been a part of it with guys like Kai Jones, who was also there. We kind of build on what we had in place when we were one step away from qualifying for the Olympic Games two summers ago."

McLean said Rose was able to stay in touch with all of the players, keeping them abreast of what the coaching staff has been doing every step of the way and the players brought into the plans.

"We are putting together this team of players and we have the coaching staff, so the goal is for us to win," McLean stressed. 

"We want to go out there and win our first game against Jamaica and put all of our efforts into Puerto Rico.

"We are in a position to succeed. We just have to put it all together when we play our next two games and see what happens after that in the next window."

Like every team has their strengths and weaknesses, McLean said they are looking at strengthening what they have in place to ensure that they can put the best team on the court possible at the games.

"I think this time we will have in Miami bonding together will determine how successful we are on the court," McLean said. 

"It's good to go out there and play, but we want to develop our chemistry off the court."

Once we can do that, when we get on the court, we should be able to execute the game the way it should be played. So we are looking forward to building chemistry with the team and the coaching staff."

Joining McLean on the coaching staff are Lourawls Nairn, the associate head coach and Charles Allen III, Mychel Thompson and Nashad Mackey as assistant coaches and Willis Mackey as the video coordinator.

McLean said all of the coaches have played on the team before with the exception of Allen, who played a pivotal role as an assistant coach and player development coach with the New York Knicks - this year’s NBA champions.He said Team Bahamas definitely has the coaching staff that can get the best out of the players selected as they look forward to winning these two games in July in front of the home crowd.