JUNIOR Hercules, Head Coach of Guyana’s Senior Men’s National basketball team, is optimistic of the country’s chances in next month’s qualifiers in Colombia for the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup.

Guyana will be the Caribbean’s representative at the tournament which, after the 2017 edition, will be played every four years, following their historic performance at the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championship where they won, for the first time, the ‘John Yates Trophy’ and earned the right to be called ‘Caribbean Champs’.

Playing undefeated through the group stage, Guyana demolished Barbados 81 – 75 in the semi-finals, before going on to rout Antigua and Barbuda 83 – 70 in a closely-contested finals, to lift the trophy for the first time in 37 years, thanks to an MVP-performance from their 18-year-old captain and point guard, Stanton Rose Jr.

Guyana will play in ‘Pool B’ of the February 22 – 24 qualifiers in Bogota, Colombia, where they’re expected to face the home country (Colombia), Paraguay and Bolivia.

Speaking to Chronicle Sport yesterday, Hercules said that he’s looking to the try-outs from February 8 – 10 and those shortlisted should be encamped from February 13 – 19, after which the final team will be selected.

Thanks to his exceptional performance at the CBC tournament, Rose was highly scouted and received several offers from colleges in the US, but the Kwakwani native accepted a scholarship from Jacksonville College to compete on the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) circuit.

Rose, along with US-based professional, Anthony Moe, was named in the CBC All-Star five and will be crucial to the team’s chances in Colombia. Hercules said he has been monitoring their progress in their respective leagues, but admitted that some more ‘help’ will be welcomed.

The sport’s world governing body, FIBA, only allows one naturalized player to be on the roster of a national team, and Hercules noted that his rule is not kind to Guyana.

“I have a lot of confidence in the guys and I believe that we can pull it off (qualify). If all is well, I would like to have a two-way player to mimic what Ray Victor can do and I also would like to see some more help for Shane Webster. Anthony Moe has a preference of playing on the perimeter and he has had some success, but I wish we could utilise his height on the inside,” Hercules said.

Hercules also noted that much of his plans will depend heavily on the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation’s (GABF) readiness to fund the team.

The GABF is set to host elections on Saturday, January 26 at the Roraima Duke Lodge, where affiliated associations will vote in a new president, since Nigel Hinds, despite the obvious success of the sport locally during his tenure, stated that he will not be seeking re-election.

Through the 2015 edition, the FIBA AmeriCup was also a qualifying tournament for the FIBA World Cup and the Summer Olympic Games.

Beginning in 2017, the championship, along with all other FIBA continental championships for men, is played once every four years, and the continental championships are no longer a part of the qualifying process for either the World Cup or Olympics.