Blog Layout

2024 CEBL on TSN Broadcast Team Announced

May 8, 2024

Sixth season of CEBL action tips off May 21 at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on TSN

The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Wednesday its 2024 CEBL on TSN broadcast team that will cover the 20 nationally televised games announced in March, beginning with the first game of the season Tuesday, May 21 at 7 p.m. MT / 9 p.m. ET when the Calgary Surge host provincial rival the Edmonton Stingers at Scotiabank Saddledome.

A crew that again includes current and former NBA broadcasters like the legendary Chuck Swirsky (Chicago Bulls), Rod Black (original Raptors television play-by-play broadcaster), Amy Audibert (Miami Heat), Paul Jones (Toronto Raptors) and Nikki Reyes (Raptors sideline reporter for TSN) will be joined by three-time NBA Champion and Chicago Bulls radio colour commentator Bill Wennington, and head coach of the Windsor Lancers women's basketball program and former general manager and head coach of the Hamilton Honey Badgers (now Brampton Honey Badgers), Chantal Vallée.

CBC host Heather Morrison (Saskatchewan Rattlers), and Joe Raso and Dhanung Balsara of CEBL+ also return to the CEBL on TSN broadcast team in 2024, while CEBL+ sideline reporter Esfandiar Baraheni joins the crew for the first time.

2024 CEBL ON TSN BROADCAST TEAM

Chuck Swirsky – Play-By-Play

Chuck Swirsky has served as the radio play-by-play voice of the Chicago Bulls for the past 16 seasons following 10 years in that capacity with the Toronto Raptors (1998-99 to 2007-08). He has broadcast more than 2,100 NBA games. Swirsky's association with Chicago sports started in 1979 with his WCFL AM 1000 talk show and has also included broadcasting Chicago White Sox games. He was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the WGN Radio Walk of Fame in 2018. Swirsky has called play-by-play for University of Michigan basketball and football. Swirsky grew up in Bellevue, Washington and gained his Canadian citizenship in January 2008.

Rod Black – Play-By-Play

As a Canadian sports broadcaster for over 40 years, Rod Black has been a part of some of sports most iconic events, including multiple Olympic Games and PGA tournaments. He was on the mic for the Toronto Raptors inaugural season television broadcasts. Following a lengthy career with TSN and CTV that included calling Toronto Blue Jays games and leading the pregame coverage of their 1992 and 1993 World Series championships, Black currently broadcasts numerous sports on both a national and regional level around the world. He currently handles play-by-play duties for the CEBL’s Scarborough Shooting Stars.

Amy Audibert – Analyst

Returning to the CEBL for her fifth season, Niagara Falls native Amy Audibert is currently serving as an analyst on the Miami Heat radio/TV broadcast team. Prior to her South Florida appointment, Audibert was the courtside reporter/analyst for Sportsnet's national coverage of the Toronto Raptors. Amy proudly was the studio analyst for the NBA's first-ever all-female broadcast, which was aired on TSN. Audibert’s on-air experience encompasses calling basketball games for many networks and many leagues, including, the WNBA, the NBA G- League, FIBA, NCAA Men's and Women’s college hoops.

Paul Jones – Analyst

Paul Jones is Canadian sportscaster who has served as a play-by-play and colour analyst for Toronto Raptors radio broadcasts since the team’s inaugural season in 1995. He appears on the weekly basketball show Hoops on Raptors NBA TV and is a co-host on the show Double Dribble. Jones has also served as studio analyst and sideline reporter for the Raptors and the Canadian Senior Men’s National team on TSN, CTV, and Rogers Sportsnet.

Joe Raso – Analyst

Joe Raso, Sr. Director, Basketball Operations for the CEBL, returns for his sixth year on the league’s broadcast staff. Raso has been involved in all levels of basketball for more than 35 years. He is the all-time winningest head coach in McMaster University history, where he coached his teams to four OUA championships and four silver medals at the CIS (now U SPORTS) National Championships. Raso has also worked on the international level as the Head Scout for the Canadian Men’s National Team and was an assistant coach with the program for four years. Raso has experience as a TV analyst for the CEBL, FIBA, CBC, Sportsnet and TSN.

Chantal Vallée – Analyst

Chantal Vallée is the current head coach of the Windsor Lancers women's basketball program and a former general manager and head coach of the Hamilton Honey Badgers (now Brampton Honey Badgers) – the first woman to hold those roles simultaneously for a men's professional basketball team. Since 2005, the Montreal, Quebec native has built one of the top women's basketball programs in the country at the University of Windsor, a tenure that includes 10 consecutive trips to the OUA final four while earning nine straight OUA medals following the 2016-17 season, and capturing five consecutive CIS (now U SPORTS) national titles in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. Vallée has also contributed as a colour commentator for basketball on prominent Canadian broadcasting channels, including CBC, CTV, Sportsnet, TSN, and RDS. Her broadcasting resume includes significant sporting events such as the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2019 NBA Playoffs.

Bill Wennington – Analyst

Bill Wennington recently completed his 21st season as colour commentator for all Chicago Bulls radio broadcasts, partnering with Chuck Swirsky to broadcast Bulls games on WSCR 670 AM and the Bulls Radio Network. He was also a sideline reporter for FOX SportsNet Chicago during the 2002-03 season. A 13-year veteran of the NBA, Wennington spent six seasons with the Bulls (1993-94 through 1998-99), which included three World Championships. The native of Montreal was also a member of the 1984 and 1992 Canadian Olympic Teams and was recently inducted into the Quebec Basketball Hall of Fame and the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame. He played his college basketball at St. John’s University and was inducted into the school’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.

Heather Morrison – Sideline Reporter

Heather Morrison, a member of the CEBL’s Saskatchewan Rattlers broadcast team, is a broadcaster and public speaking coach from Saskatoon. This is Morrison’s fourth season with the CEBL. She is the founder and president of Deliver Your Best public speaking coaching. She has also handled sideline coverage for Canada West Football and spent three years as an associate producer with CBC Saskatchewan, where she also hosted radio programs and was a television weather reporter. Last season Morrison had the honour of covering the CEBL's Western Conference Finals and Championship Weekend.

Nikki Reyes – Sideline Reporter

Nikki Reyes is an anchor for TSN’s SportsCentre and a sideline reporter for Toronto Raptors coverage on TSN. She was also an Anchor/Reporter on Sportsnet in Toronto and at NESN in Boston covering the Celtics, Bruins and Patriots.

Dhanung Bulsara – Sideline Reporter

Dhanung Bulsara, commonly known as ‘D', enters his fourth season with the CEBL as a sideline reporter. For the past three seasons, Bulsara has patrolled the sidelines covering home games for the Guelph Nighthawks (2021, 2022), Brampton Honey Badgers and Niagara River Lions. Last season saw him draw his first of multiple assignments on TSN, covering nationally televised games for the league. This past summer also saw Bulsara make his debut as the in-game host for the Toronto Blue Jays. He has previous experience as the Raptors 905 in-game host, spending two seasons with the team.

Esfandiar Baraheni – Sideline Reporter

Esfandiar Baraheni has been a basketball reporter, writer and producer for over five years, working with publications like TheScore, Bleacher Report, TSN, Spotify, and Raptors Republic — specializing in covering the Toronto Raptors and the rest of the NBA.

Season tickets and flex packs are now available league wide with priority seating access and preferred pricing. Ticket information for all CEBL games, including single-game tickets, can be found by visiting cebl.ca/tickets. More than 50 CEBL games will be broadcast live nationally on TSN and Game+ this season. Fans can also livestream all regular season, playoff and Championship Weekend games on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices.

- CEBL -

About the CEBL

A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 73% of its 2023 rosters being Canadian. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August. More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Les BlackJacks D'Ottawa Signe Shakur Daniel

April 1, 2025

Les BlackJacks d'Ottawa de la Ligue Élite Canadienne de Basketball (LECB), la plus grande ligue sportive professionnelle du Canada, ont annoncé aujourd'hui que l'équipe a signé un contrat avec le arrière Shakur Daniel pour la saison 2025. Daniel, 25 ans, se joint aux BlackJacks après avoir récemment terminé sa première année dans la G-League de la NBA, où il obtient une moyenne de 2,4 points par match et de 2,4 rebonds par match pour les Clippers de San Diego. Il est l'un des 11 Canadiens à avoir joué dans la ligue au cours de la saison 2024-25. Ses 27 matchs joués au cours de la campagne l'ont placé à égalité au deuxième rang parmi les Clippers de première année, tandis que ses 2,0 passes décisives par match l'ont placé à égalité au premier rang parmi tous les joueurs canadiens recrutés dans la G-League. « Shakur est un compétiteur de haut niveau qui a la capacité d'influencer le jeu de différentes façons », a déclaré le directeur général des BlackJacks, James Derouin. « Tout au long de son expérience dans la NCAA, au niveau international et dans la G-League, il a montré qu'il était prêt à faire tout ce qu'il fallait pour gagner. Nous avons hâte de le voir démontrer cette compétitivité dans la capitale nationale cet été. » Le natif d'Ajax, en Ontario, qui mesure 6'6 », a déjà une expérience internationale du basketball puisqu'il a passé la campagne 2023-24 avec le KK Feniks 2010 de la première ligue macédonienne, où il a joué en moyenne 29,2 minutes par match en 25 rencontres de MA Superleague. Ses 4,8 rebonds par match l'ont placé au troisième rang de l'équipe et son pourcentage de .451 à trois points sur 3,6 tentatives par match l'a placé au deuxième rang de tous les joueurs du KK Feniks. L'un des cinq meilleurs joueurs canadiens de niveau secondaire classés par USA Today à sa sortie de la Southwest Christian Academy de Little Rock, en Arkansas, Daniel a entamé sa carrière collégiale à Southern Mississippi (Conference USA) en 2018, où il s'est classé deuxième pour les passes décisives par match (0,7) parmi les joueurs de première année, tout en se taillant une place au tableau d'honneur de la CUSA. Lors de sa deuxième campagne, il a joué pour le Ranger Junior College sous la direction de Billy Gillispie, ancien entraîneur de la division I de la NCAA, où il a été nommé joueur défensif de l'année de la NTJCAC et a mené son équipe à un record de 28-3 en saison régulière. En 2020-21, Daniel rejoint son ancien entraîneur principal à Tarleton State (WAC) alors que le programme passe de la Division II à la Division I. Au cours de ses trois saisons avec les Texans, il réalise une moyenne de 2,6 passes décisives par match tout en jouant en moyenne 33,4 minutes par match, y compris en menant toute la conférence avec 35,6 minutes par match lors de sa saison diplômée. Il est actuellement possible d'acheter des forfaits de billets flexibles en visitant le site theblackjacks.ca/fr-ca/tickets . Les abonnements de saison des BlackJacks 2025 sont disponibles dès maintenant. Pour plus de détails, les amateurs sont invités à envoyer un courriel à [email protected] ou à composer le 613-690-0519. À propos des BlackJacks d'Ottawa Première franchise d'expansion de la Ligue de basket-ball de l'élite canadienne (LECB), les BlackJacks d'Ottawa présentent le meilleur du basket-ball et du divertissement dans la capitale nationale. Le bureau de direction d'Ottawa apporte à la franchise son expérience de la NBA, de la NBA G League, de l'équipe nationale, de la NCAA et des grandes ligues professionnelles internationales. Dirigée par le directeur général James Derouin et l'entraîneur-chef Dave DeAveiro, l'équipe d'Ottawa joue ses matchs à domicile dans l'aréna de classe mondiale de la Place TD, dans le parc Lansdowne. Pour plus d'informations, visitez le site theblackjacks.ca .

BlackJacks Sign Guard Daniel

April 1, 2025

Canadian guard most recently played for the San Diego Clippers in the NBA G League

Sea Bears Bolster Frontcourt with Addition of Power Forward Williams

April 1, 2025

Former Auburn Tiger and SEC Tournament Champion ranks third all-time in school history in games played (141) and made three NCAA Tournament appearances

Bandits Re-Sign Homegrown Power Forward Karnik

March 31, 2025

The Vancouver Bandits announced Monday that the club is bringing back 6-foot-9 forward and homegrown talent James Karnik for his third season with British Columbia’s professional basketball team. Hailing from Surrey, B.C., Karnik has established himself as one of the league’s premier power forwards, thanks in part for his thunderous dunks and tenacious defensive presence. Appearing in 24 games for the Bandits across two CEBL campaigns in 2022 and 2024, he owns averages of 11.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.9 blocks in 22.2 minutes of action. “Being able to play two seasons of professional basketball in my home province has been an amazing experience; we are really building something special in BC,” said Karnik. “I’m looking forward to coming home and running it back with the team and our fans for another summer!” Karnik is currently playing overseas for Dutch club Donar Groningen in the BNXT League, where he is averaging a double-double with 16.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks in 26.1 minutes per game, while shooting 53% from the field. Karnik will report to the Bandits at the conclusion of Donar Groningen’s season. His overseas basketball career has also featured stints in Switzerland with Geneva Lions (2022-23) and the Czech Republic with Basket Brno (2022-23). “James has been an incredibly impactful player in the CEBL, he is an absolute beast on the court and a great presence in our locker room. It is truly a privilege to be able to coach and work with someone like James.” Bandits head coach and general manager Kyle Julius said. Holding a Czech passport, Karnik represents the Czech Republic in international FIBA play. Most recently, he was called up to the national team at both the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket Qualifiers and 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup European Qualifiers appearing in four games across both competitions. Prior to turning professional, Karnik played in 130 games across a five year NCAA DI career. Split between Lehigh University (2017-20) and Boston College (2020-22), he owns collegiate career averages of 9.1 points on 56.2 per cent shooting and 6.1 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game. Karnik played high school basketball at Earl Marriott Secondary in Surrey and BC Christian Academy in Port Coquitlam before wrapping up his high school career at Orangeville Prep in Mono, Ont., the alma mater of several current NBAers including Jamal Murray, Oshae Brissett, Luguentz Dort and other recent NBA draft selections. Season Tickets and Jam Packs are currently on sale for the Bandits’ seventh CEBL season and are available for purchase at this link . Single game tickets are expected to go on sale later this spring. The Bandits tip-off the 2025 CEBL campaign on Thursday, May 15 when the club hits the road to take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers. Fans will have their first chance to watch the club at home on Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m. PT when Vancouver hosts the Niagara River Lions in a rematch of the 2024 CEBL Final. Vancouver will play a total of 12 regular season home games in 2025 between Thursday, May 22 and Sunday, August 3. The Bandits wrap up regular season action on the road in Ottawa on Sunday, August 10 at 12 p.m. PT. All CEBL regular season games including playoffs will be live-streamed on TSN+, as well as the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ , and on CEBL Mobile, the official app of the CEBL (available on Android and iOS devices). Individuals interested in learning more about tickets for the Vancouver Bandits’ upcoming 2025 season are kindly asked to call (604) 455-8881 or email [email protected] . A complete regular season schedule can be found by clicking here . More information is available at thebandits.ca and @vancouverbandits on Instagram and TikTok , as well as @vancitybandits on Facebook and Twitter . ### About the Vancouver Bandits: The Vancouver Bandits are British Columbia’s professional basketball team. As the westernmost club in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), the Bandits offer an entertainment experience that combines a fast-paced game day atmosphere with a presentation of some of Canada’s top professional athletes within a world-class venue at Langley Events Centre (LEC). About the CEBL A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 12 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. More than 20 players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ , TSN, TSN+, RDS , Game+ and Next Level Sports & Entertainment . More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , LinkedIn , Facebook & YouTube .