Varsity Blues Baker headlines 14 OUA selections in CEBL Draft
Burlington, Ont. – The most valuable player from the 2023-24 OUA season, Toronto’s Callum Baker, goes second overall as part of the 2024 Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) Draft on Thursday.
The Brampton Honey Badgers selected the conference’s top scorer, who poured in 23.4 points per game in his standout season, in the opening round of the annual draft, making him the OUA’s first of 14 selections in this year’s festivities.
Baker was joined by fellow GTA school standout Aaron Rhooms in the top-five selections, as the TMU Bold guard went fifth overall to the Edmonton Stingers. Ottawa’s Dragan Stajic and Brock’s Jordan Tchuente also heard their names called in the opening round, being selected eighth and 10th overall by their local teams – the Ottawa BlackJacks and Niagara River Lions – respectively.
The OUA’s reigning defensive player of the year and Wilson Cup champion, Luka Syllas, was the first name off the board in Round 2 (11th overall), joining his championship combatant from Brock on the River Lions. His selection marked the first of four straight OUAers picked to open the second round, as he was followed by McMaster’s Mike Demagus (12th overall, Calgary Surge), Lakehead’s Tyler Sagl (13th overall, Winnipeg Sea Bears), and Ottawa’s Justin Ndjock-Tadjoré (14th overall, Ottawa BlackJacks).
First team all-star Taye Donald from Wilfrid Laurier and Western’s Jerric Palma came off the board at picks 16 and 17 to the Stingers and Vancouver Bandits, respectively, while the other half of the Syllas sibling duo went to Brampton with the round’s penultimate pick (19th overall). The Kingston, Ont. local wowed basketball fans across the country with his game-winning buzzer-beater to help Queen’s claim their first Wilson Cup since 1957 back in March, and will look to bring that same magic touch to the Honey Badgers.
A third member of the Gaels’ championship squad rounded out their selections in Round 3, with Mickael Kelvin II going the way of the BlackJacks with Pick 27. TMU and Brock also saw multiple players drafted from their 2023-24 squads following Brampton’s third-round selection of David Walker (22nd overall) and the Scarborough Shooting Stars going with Davanté Hackett (26th overall).
This latest crop of OUA draftees, which includes eight all-stars, will join an already impressive list of conference talents who have played for Canada’s largest professional sports league since its inaugural season in 2019.