Guelph, ON – Today the Guelph Nighthawks announced the roster that will attend training camp in advance of the start of their 2022 Canadian Elite Basketball season on May 26th. Head Coach and General Manager Charles Kissi is returning for his fourth season with the organization and is determined to create a competitive team in pursuit of a spot at Championship Weekend in Ottawa this August. After placing fifth in the 2021 CEBL regular season and qualifying for the CEBL quarter-finals, Kissi has added a blend of size, versatility, cohesiveness and consistency for the upcoming season. The training camp roster includes six returning players and sixteen newcomers who will compete for the 2022 CEBL Championship this summer.
The Guelph Nighthawks training camp roster includes returning guards Cat Barber and Michael Bryson, forwards Ahmed Hill and TJ Lall, and centre Matt Neufeld, from the 2021 season. The organization signed international free agent guard Kyliann Rotardier and forward Madut Akec, and American free agent forward A.J. Hess and 7’2” centre Trayvon Reed. The roster has been filled out with a strong mix of Canadian’s, including A.J.Lawson, Stef Smith, Khalid Abdel-Gabar, Julian Roche, Elijah Miller, Sean Miller-Moore, Clayton Henry, Ibrahima Doumbouya, Cassidy Ryan, Christian Rohlelr, Narcisse Kalamba and Jabari Craig, who had previously played with the Nighthawks in 2020.
The Guelph Nighthawks 2022 roster includes five players who have played in the NBA G-League, including Cat Barber who signed a 10-day contract with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks this past season. The roster also features players that have recently played in France’s LNB, the Polish Basketball League, Hungary’s NBIA, the Saudi Premier League, the NBL Bulgaria, USPORT and the NCAA.
Among the first signings of the season in February the Nighthawks announced the return centre Matt Neufeld. Neufeld, at six-foot-eleven and 225 pounds, is born in Victoria, BC who played at UC Davis prior to being signed by the Guelph Nighthawks in 2021. His size and strength make him a great asset as a center both on the glass and as well as creating big defensive plays. At 26, Neufeld had a strong interior presence for the Nighthawks last year and has strong growth potential for 2022.
Heading into March, the Nighthawks announced the return of 2021 All-CEBL Second Team All-Star point guard Cat Barber. Barber rejoins the Nighthawks after a successful offseason where he signed a 10-day NBA contract with the Atlanta Hawks on Christmas Day 2021 where he became the first CEBL player to officially play in an NBA regular season game following his CEBL season. Barber primarily spent time with the NBA G-League’s College Park Skyhawks where he averaged 22.9 points per game, 7.9 assists per game, and shooting a 3P% of 42.9%. For the Nighthawks, Barber led the team in scoring in 2021 with 17.6 points per game in 13 appearances.
Following the signing of Cat Barber, the Nighthawks announced Canadian free agent acquisition A.J. Lawson; a six-foot-six guard from Brampton, Ont. who played in the NBA G-League for the College Park Skyhawks alongside Nighthawks teammate Cat Barber. Lawson played 33 games for the Skyhawks, averaging 11.9 points per game, 6.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 48.1% FG’s. AJ has also represented Canada on the international stage. In 2018, Lawson represented Canada at the FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship, helping lead the team to a silver medal.
In April the Nighthawks announced the re-signing of 2021 team MVP Ahmed Hill. A six-foot-five shooting guard, Ahmed rejoins the Guelph Nighthawks after a successful season last year where he was not only named the Nighthawks Most Valuable Player but was also named to the 2021 All-CEBL Second Team. In 2021 Hill played 14 games, averaging 16.8 points, 2.3 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game. His professional career began with the Northern Arizona Suns and Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G-League. In 2021 following the conclusion of the Nighthawks season Hill joined the Rosa Radom of the Polish Basketball League where he played 17 games and averaged 11.9 points per game.
Focusing on adding size, the Nighthawks signed American Trayvon Reed. Reed, a seven-foot-two center, played for the Sitra Club of the Bahraini Premier League and Dinamo in the Georgian Superleague. Reed averaged 13.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game with the Superleague’s Dinamo.
Forward TJ Lall, the six-foot-six forward from Cambridge, Ont. returns to the Guelph Nighthawks for his second CEBL season. In 2021 Lall played 15 games, averaging 22.8 minutes, 5.5 points, and 4.5 rebounds per game. As a Carleton Raven, Lall captured four OUA National Championships and three OUA Championships. In 2021 TJ transferred to the Brock Badgers where he helped his team win the OUA Wilson Cup Men’s Basketball Championship and was named a First Team All-Canadian and the OUA West MVP of the year.
In April, the Nighthawks drafted the University of Prince Edward Island’s Elijah Miller, and the University of New Brunswick’s Ibrahima Doumbouya during the USPORTS Draft.
Miller, a six-foot guard from Etobicoke, ON finished his second year with UPEI, averaging 17.6 points per game, 5.6 assists, and 5.0 rebounds per game. Miller was named the UPEI Male Athlete of the Year for 2022 and named to the 2022 U Sports Second Team All-Canadian.
Doumbouya, a six-foot-six forward from the Ivory Coast, played for the New Brunswick Reds where in his senior season he averaged 12.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Doumbouya was named to the AUS All-Rookie Team in 2018. In 2019 and 2020, he was named to the AUS All-Star First Team. In 2021, Doumbouya represented the Guinea National Team at AfroBasket, helping Guinea advance to the championship quarterfinals.
The Nighthawks signed two Canadians directly out of the NCAA, Vermont alumni Stef Smith and Sean Miller-Moore from Grand Canyon.
Smith has five years of NCAA experience, including four years at Vermont and a season at St. John’s University. In 31 games this year, he averaged 6.3 points, 1.9 assists and 1.9 rebounds. Smith was named to the America East All-Conference Second Team in 2021, the America East All-Conference First Team in 2020 and the America East All-Championship Team in 2019. He has also competed on the international stage with Canada in the 2016 FIBA U17 World Cup where Smith helped Canada achieve a fifth-place finish.
Miller-Moore is a six-foot-four guard from Toronto who went to university in Arizona at Grand Canyon University. He played 30 games, averaging 20.4 minutes, 1.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 7.2 points per game. Miller-Moore participated in the Great Clips Slam Dunk Championship in 2022 and was named a SportsCenter Top 10 repeat slam artist in 2022.
The Nighthawks added to their international depth, signing free agent American forward A.J. Hess and the club’s first non-North American international player, Kyliann Rotardier from Orleans of France’s LNB.
Hess, a forward from Arizona, played for the BC Rilski Sportist in the Bulgarian NBL. Hess averaged 9.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game helping to lead the club to the best regular season record. Prior to his time in Bulgaria Hess played for the Wisconsin Herd in the NBA G-League playing 31 games, averaging 5.4 points per game and 2.3 rebounds per game.
Kyliann Rotardier is a 20-year-old French international who played for the Orleans Loiret Basket in the LNB Pro A, France’s top basketball league. Kyliann spent the majority of the 2021-22 season with the Orleans under-21 team, Espoirs Orleans. In 26 games with the club he averaged 13.3 points, 2.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds.
Optimistic about a roster that merges new and returning players, Coach Charles Kissi has his sights set on Championship Weekend this summer in Ottawa.
Kissi remarked: “We’re extremely excited for this year’s training camp. We are energized by the group we have put together. We believe that we have given ourselves the best possible opportunity to be competitive, get better and grow as a basketball club.”
The Guelph Nighthawks tip-off the new 2022 CEBL season at home against the Scarborough Shooting Stars on Thursday, May 26 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Tickets are still available at www.thenighthawks.ca/tickets.
For more information on the Guelph Nighthawks and the 2022 regular season schedule please visit: https://www.thenighthawks.ca/schedule
For full Training Camp Roster see here: https://www.thenighthawks.ca/tcroster2022
For full team bios and statistics: https://www.thenighthawks.ca/roster
CBC Sports will live stream all Guelph Nighthawks games for the 2021 CEBL Season on the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca, and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices. In addition, select Guelph Nighthawks games will be broadcasted nationally on CBC TV.
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