Over the past two years, Canadian basketball players and fans alike, have missed out on one of the biggest attractions of the high school basketball calendar.
The 2022 BioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Boys Game, now in its sixth-year, is back after a two-year absence due to the ongoing pandemic.
Similar to the McDonald’s All-American Game, the BioSteel All-Canadian showcase has built on the tradition from its predecessors, to finally give Canadian basketball a viable and recognizable national high school all-star platform to celebrate its top rising basketball talent.
Aiming to identify the 24 best Canadian-born or players playing in a Canadian high school/prep institution, the NBA sanctioned event gives scouts and GM’s a glimpse of what Canada has to offer.
Recognizable names like Jamal Murray, Luguentz Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Oshae Brissett, Andrew Nembhard and various others have played in the game since 2015.
Toronto Raptors general manager Bobby Webster recently told local media that he first spotted six-foot-nine point-guard Dalano Banton at the 2018 Biosteel All-Canadian Game. Webster and the Raptors brass selected Banton in the second-round of the 2021 NBA Draft, making Banton the first Canadian-born player to be drafted by the local team.
Main attractions for the 2022 game include the top two unsigned Canadian prospects in Leonard Miller and Elijah Fisher. The two will reconvene one final time at the high school level, on Sunday, April 3rd inside the University of Toronto’s Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
As per numerous reports, Fisher and his camp have made it clear that regardless of a reclassification decision, this was his last year of high school basketball in Canada. Where Fisher ends up next is anybody’s guess at this moment.
All options are on the table for the 18-year-old, including the G-League Ignite, Overtime Elite League, NCAA or even taking his game to the Australian league. A move that paid-off handsomely for LaMelo Ball the 2021 NBA Rookie of the Year.
Leonard Miller coming out party
The game figures to be a coming out party for 18-year-old Miller. A relatively unknown NBA prospect who first stepped into the international spotlight as a slim six-foot-five guard at the 2019 U16 FIBA Americas championship in Brazil.
Overshadow by the likes of Caleb Houstan (Michigan), Shaedon Sharpe (Kentucky) and Ryan Nembhard (Creighton), he saw limited minutes but showed flashes when given the opportunity. Miller reached double figures against Uruguay and played well in a group match-up versus Puerto Rico.
Now standing at six-foot-eleven, thanks to a rapid growth spurt and fresh off of a 2022 Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA) championship earlier this month, he has been receiving a growing amount of national buzz.
Following the BioSteel game, Miller will have yet another opportunity to raise his profile against elite competition. As the lone Canadian selection to the World Team, he will team-up with other top prospect from around the globe as they take on Team USA at the 2022 Nike Hoop Summit on April 8th in Portland, Oregon.
15-year-old Efosa Oliogu, the youngest player ever to be selected
Forget participating in the BioSteel Futures game. Instead, six-foot-seven, fifteen-year-old, class of 2025 Efosa Oliogu, is already snatching up national all-star spots from players three-years older than him.
Oliogu, who doesn’t turn 16 until April 5th, 2022 is by far the youngest player to ever be selected to the main game. The Oshawa, Ontario native led Canada to a third place finish at the 2021 FIBA U16 Americas and is already racking-up considerable interest from a growing list of NCAA teams.
Wilguens Exacte Jr. following in Bennedict Mathurin’s steps
Other names to keep an eye on include Wilguens Exacte Jr., a six-foot-five, 200-pound shooting guard from Quebec City. Exacte Jr., recently became just the fourth Canadian to commit to the Utah Utes basketball program and is the highest Canadian recruit since Toronto legend Phil Dixon was shattering backboards in 1989.
Exacte Jr. has followed in the same ‘exact’ steps as current Arizona Wildcats star Bennedict Mathurin, opting to develop his game at the NBA Academy Latin America in Mexico City.
Vassen Allette & DJ Jackson ready to make their mark
Vassen Allette (Scarborough, Ont.) is a name to get familiar with. A confident, high energy, six-foot-three combo guard with excellent on and off the ball scoring punch. Allette has been turning heads since he led Thornhill’s Thornlea Secondary School junior team to a consolation finish at the 2019 OFSAA senior boys AA championship in Timmins, Ontario.
The class of 2023 guard took his game stateside during the 2019-2020 season, spending time in Missouri with St. Louis Christian Academy. Now back in Canada, he is ready to climb to the top of the rankings and claim pole position.
Unsigned six-foot-four bucket getter DJ Jackson (Mississauga, Ont.) is the latest in what has now become a long list (RJ Barrett, Nembhard brothers, Caleb Houstan) of Canadians at Montverde Academy in Florida. Jackson can score with the best of them and is holding interest from Seton Hall, Missouri and others.
Skilled big men Armani Mighty & Luke Hunger already committed
Patrolling the paint will be a bevy of skilled big men that can impact the game on both ends of the court. Six-foot-ten OSBA first-team all-star Armani Mighty is a force to be reckoned with that can cause guards and opposing big men to think twice about coming inside. Mighty is off to Boston College and is one of six players playing in the 2022 BioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Game that have already signed to a NCAA DI team.
Battled tested as they come, is Luke Hunger, another active six-foot-ten center that has been making a name for himself stateside at Northfield Mount Hermon High School in Gill, Massachusetts. Hunger put up solid numbers at the 2021 Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) and racked-up eleven of his twelve offers during last year’s AAU circuit. The Montreal big men verbally committed to head coach Chris Collins and the Northwestern Wildcats of the Big 12.
Ultimately, there is no stopping the depth of Canadian basketball. A pipeline filled with supreme unleaded talent, developing in local basketball youth leagues across Canada, North America and internationally, the competition for these coveted 24 spots is as fierce and cut-throat as it gets.
Undoubtedly and regardless of who gets selected, or snubbed, the Biosteel All-Canadian Basketball Game is playing its role in helping the sport establish a long term national identity that will continue to foster growth and competition for years to come.
Below is the complete list of all the 24 participants to be selected for 2022 BioSteel All-Canadian Game.
2022 BioSteel All-Canadian Game Boys Roster
