Paul took pride in playing for country

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It was an experience John Paul won’t soon forget.

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This article was published 09/07/2018 (2088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was an experience John Paul won’t soon forget.

The former post for the Brandon University Bobcats men’s basketball team was recently on the St. Lucia squad that took part in the FIBA Americup Caribbean pre-qualifier in Suriname. The six-foot-11 centre averaged 7.6 points and 3.8 rebounds for the St. Lucia team that ended up going 0-4 at the event, failing to advance to the playoff round.

It was Paul’s first time representing his country — an eastern Caribbean island nation with an approximate population of 179,600 people — on the international stage and that meant a lot to him.

File
Former Brandon University Bobcat post John Paul played for his country of St. Lucia during the FIBA Americup Caribbean pre-qualifier tournament in Suriname last week.
File Former Brandon University Bobcat post John Paul played for his country of St. Lucia during the FIBA Americup Caribbean pre-qualifier tournament in Suriname last week.

“It was an honour to play for my country,” Paul said. “It was an amazing experience. The teams were all great with pro players across the board. It was a very competitive atmosphere.”

“We didn’t know what to expect but we saw, that as a collective group, we learned that we need to do to continue playing and to build team chemistry,” continued the 25-year-old, who exhausted his university eligibility in March after spending his final three seasons at BU.

Paul opened the tournament with a six-point, four-rebound performance for St. Lucia in a loss to host Suriname on June 24. He followed that effort up with his best individual performance, going 5-for-8 from the floor and picking up 11 points and eight rebounds against Grenada in what was a 73-69 defeat.

He would then have seven points and four rebounds in a loss to St. Vincent and Grenadines on June 27 before ending the tourney the next day with a four-point, two rebound night against Guyana.

“We’ll have a better chance of winning next time,” said Paul, who remains in contact with his former BU teammates and head coach Gil Cheung. “It was a great learning experience.”

Aside from playing nationally, Paul said he received interest from professional teams during the tournament. Clubs in Europe, Spain and even Division I clubs in Germany reached out to him. He said he envisions signing with a team at some point soon.

Paul began his tenure in the Wheat City with the Bobcats prior to the start of the 2015-2016 campaign after transferring from Tyler Junior College in Texas. He played 60 games for Brandon, tallying 441 points and 310 rebounds during his time in the Wheat City.

» sports@brandonsun.com

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