Ireland men's national basketball team

Ireland

FIBA ranking	90 17 (7 December 2021)[1]
Joined FIBA	1947
FIBA zone	FIBA Europe
National federation	Basketball Ireland
Coach	Mark Keenan
Nickname(s)	Na buachaillí i nglas (The Boys in Green)
Olympic Games
Appearances	1 (1948)
Medals	None
FIBA World Cup
Appearances	None
EuroBasket
Appearances	None
Championship for Small Countries
Appearances	7
Medals	Gold: (1994, 2021) Silver: (1988) Bronze: (2018)
Home Away
First international
Mexico 71–9 Ireland  (London, England; 2 August 1948)
Biggest win
Ireland 112–39 Gibraltar  (Cardiff, Wales; 12 December 1990)
Biggest defeat
Italy 128–49 Ireland  (Edinburgh, Scotland; 3 May 1976)

The Ireland men's national basketball team (Irish: Foireann cispheile náisiúnta na hÉireann) represents the island of Ireland in international basketball. It is governed by Basketball Ireland with players from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland plays their home matches at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dublin.

Ireland doesn't have much history on the international stage, as they have yet to reach qualification to top tournaments being the EuroBasket or the FIBA World Cup. However, the national team did manage to reach the Summer Olympics once, in 1948.

History[]

Ireland (white) against Luxembourg (blue) in 2009

The Amateur Basketball Association of Ireland (ABAI; now Basketball Ireland) was formed in 1945 and affiliated to FIBA in 1947. An indoor version of basketball had been played in the Irish Army from 1936, but using non-standard rules to create an indoor winter substitute for Gaelic football; until 1943, the Army Athletic Council officially recognized only Gaelic games.^[2] The ABAI sent a team of the best Army players to the 1948 Olympic tournament in nearby London, despite the refusal of Army command to release the players for intensive training. The team coaches were officers unfamiliar with the sport, who outranked the players and ignored their advice. Although many top sides were absent from the London Games in the aftermath of World War II, the Irish team finished last, losing every match heavily; the worst a 71–9 loss to Mexico, who finished fourth.^[3] Only two members of the team were over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall.^[4]

The team's standard improved gradually from the 1970s to the 2000s, as more school leavers won scholarships to play US college basketball, and some Irish American professional players took up eligibility to compete for their ancestral country. Ireland entered European-zone Olympic qualification tournaments in 1972,^[5] 1976,^[6] 1984,^[7] and 1988,^[8] losing every match each time. In 1988, Ireland finished runner-up in the inaugural Promotion Cup, the third tier of EuroBasket, later named EuroBasket Division C, and now the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries. In 1993, the National Basketball Arena opened in Dublin, which became the team's new permanent home. Division C was hosted there the following year, and Ireland beat Cyprus 81–78 in the final to gain promotion to EuroBasket Division B. Ireland narrowly failed to win promotion to Division A in FIBA EuroBasket 2005 Division B, losing to Denmark by 4 points after having won the first game in Dublin by 10 points.

In February 2010, during the Irish financial crisis, Basketball Ireland announced that it was €1.2m in debt and was deactivating its senior international squads to cut costs.^[9] In December 2015, the team was reactivated for 2016.^[10]

In December 2015, it was announced that Ireland would play at the 2016 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries.^[11] The team finished in the fourth position overall.

Ireland played in the 2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries, held in San Marino from 26 June to 1 July. Ireland finished (1–1) in group play, losing to Malta then defeating Andorra. In the semi-finals Ireland lost to Norway, sending the team to the bronze medal match where they defeated Gibraltar to finish in third place.^[12]

Three years later, Ireland hosted the 2021 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries in Dublin. The national team would go undefeated during the tournament at (4–0), to capture their second title at the competition all time.^[13][14]

Competitive record[]

FIBA World Cup[] World Cup Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1950 Did not enter Did not enter 1954 1959 1963 1967 1970 1974 1978 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 1982 1986 Did not enter Did not enter 1990 1994 1998 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 2002 2006 2010 2014 Did not enter Did not enter 2019 2023 Total 0/19 Olympic Games[] Olympic Games Qualifying Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1948 23rd 6 0 6 1952 Did not enter 1956 1960 Did not enter 1964 1968 1972 Did not qualify 4 0 4 1976 5 0 5 1980 Did not enter Did not enter 1984 Did not qualify 3 0 3 1988 4 0 4 1992 5 0 5 1996 to 2024 Did not enter Did not enter 2028 To be determined To be determined Total 1/20 6 0 6 21 0 21 Championship for Small Countries[] FIBA European Championship for Small Countries Year Position Pld W L 1988 5 4 1 1990 4th 5 3 2 1992 4th 5 2 3 1994 5 5 0 2016 4th 5 3 2 2018 4 2 2 2021 4 4 0 Total 33 23 10

EuroBasket[] EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1947 Did not enter 1949 1951 1953 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 Did not enter 1965 1967 1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 Did not qualify 5 1 4 1979 Did not enter Did not enter 1981 Did not qualify 4 0 4 1983 5 0 5 1985 Did not enter Did not enter 1987 Did not qualify 4 0 4 1989 Did not enter Did not enter 1991 1993 1995 1997 Did not qualify 5 2 3 1999 8 4 4 2001 11 3 8 2003 21 10 11 2005 Division B 8 5 3 2007 Division B 6 1 5 2009 Division B 8 2 6 2011 Did not enter Did not enter 2013 2015 2017 2022 2025 To be determined To be determined Total 0/37 85 28 57

Results and fixtures[]

  Win   Loss

2021[]

Cyprus  v  Ireland

25 November 2021 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Cyprus	73–81	Ireland	Nicosia, Cyprus
19:00 (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter: 17–20, 14–24, 19–22, 23–15
	Pts: 16 Rebs: 8 Asts: Michail 5	Boxscore	Pts: Blount 21 Rebs: 12 Asts: Hosford 7	Arena: Eleftheria Indoor Hall Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Ofer Manheim (ISR), Ilya Putenko (RUS), Zoran Mitrovski (MKD)

Ireland  v  Austria

28 November 2021 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Ireland	70–97	Austria	Dublin, Ireland
17:00 (UTC±0)	Scoring by quarter: 13–28, 28–15, 9–30, 20–24
	Pts: 23 Rebs: 9 Asts: 4	Boxscore	Pts: 25 Rebs: 8 Asts: 8	Arena: National Basketball Arena Attendance: 700 Referees: Francisco Araña (ESP), Nikola Bejat (NOR), Łukasz Jankowski (POL)

2022[]

Switzerland   v  Ireland

24 February 2022 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Switzerland	vs.	Ireland	Fribourg, Switzerland
19:30 (UTC+1)
		Boxscore		Arena:

Ireland  v  Cyprus

27 February 2022 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Ireland	vs.	Cyprus	Dublin, Ireland
17:00 (UTC±0)
		Boxscore		Arena: National Basketball Arena

Austria  v  Ireland

30 June 2022 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Austria	vs.	Ireland
		Boxscore

Ireland  v   Switzerland

3 July 2022 EuroBasket 2025 pre-qualifiers – 1st round	Ireland	vs.	Switzerland
		Boxscore

Team[]

Current roster[]

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers matches on 24 and 27 February 2022 against Switzerland and Cyprus.^[15][16]

Ireland men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 4 28 – (1993-07-21)21 July 1993 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) G 6 27 – (1994-12-08)8 December 1994 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Templeogue G 7 25 – (1996-09-10)10 September 1996 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Omonia PG 8 Kyle Hosford (C) 32 – (1989-06-27)27 June 1989 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) UCC Demons SG 12 26 – (1995-07-10)10 July 1995 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Belfast Star F 13 Jordan Blount 25 – (1997-01-05)5 January 1997 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Þór Akureyri F 14 26 – (1995-03-16)16 March 1995 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Albacete C 15 22 – (1999-08-31)31 August 1999 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) PG 16 27 – (1994-03-14)14 March 1994 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Neptune PG 18 21 – (2000-04-01)1 April 2000 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) Neptune F 21 Taiwo Badmus 28 – (1993-07-03)3 July 1993 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Tindastóll C 24 29 – (1992-05-26)26 May 1992 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in)	Head coach Mark Keenan Assistant coach(es) Adrian Fulton Puff Summers Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 24 February 2022

Depth chart[]

Head coach position[]

• / Jay Larrañaga – (2008–2010)
• – (2014)
• Colin O'Reilly – (2015)
• Pete Strickland – (2016–2018)^[17]
• – (2019–present)^[18]

Notable players[]

• Cal Bowdler – NBA player for the Atlanta Hawks, but not born in Ireland
• Pat Burke – Only Irish-born to have played in the NBA, played for the Orlando Magic & Phoenix Suns. Also a Euroleague and ULEB Eurocup winner with Panathinaikos and Real Madrid
• Marty Conlon – NBA player for the Seattle SuperSonics, Sacramento Kings, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Bullets, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Clippers, but not born in Ireland
• Billy Donlon – former head coach of the Wright State University men's basketball team and as of 2019 head coach of UMKC.^[19]
• Aidan Igiehon – former Louisville and current Grand Canyon player
• Jay Larrañaga – former captain of the Ireland national team
• Donnie McGrath – Irish American, he played for Anadolu Efes, Spartak St. Petersburg and Žalgiris Kaunas amongst others
• Darren Randolph – Irish football goalkeeper and player for the Republic of Ireland national team, father Ed Randolph was an American who played basketball in Ireland. He taught his son basketball and Darren has since represented the national team

Past rosters[]

1948 Olympic Games: finished 23rd among 23 teams

4 Donald O'Donovan, 5 Frank O'Connor, 6 Paddy Crehan, 7 Jimmy McGee, 8 Bill Jackson, 9 Harry Boland, 10 Tommy Keenan, 12 Dermot Sheriff, 13 Danny Reddin, 14 Paddy Sheriff, 15 Jim Flynn, 16 Christy Walsh (Coach: Donald McCormack)

2016 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries: finished 4th among 8 teams^[20]

Ireland men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 4 22 – (1993-07-21)21 July 1993 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) UCC Demons G 5 25 – (1991-04-30)30 April 1991 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Cheshire Jets G 6 21 – (1994-12-08)8 December 1994 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Neptune SF 7 25 – (1990-12-27)27 December 1990 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Swords Thunder SF 9 24 – (1992-03-16)16 March 1992 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Cheshire Jets C 10 Brian Fitzpatrick 26 – (1989-11-06)6 November 1989 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Horsens C 11 24 – (1992-05-26)26 May 1992 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) UCC Demons PF 12 Colin O'Reilly 32 – (1984-01-30)30 January 1984 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) UCC Demons F 13 Jordan Blount 19 – (1997-01-05)5 January 1997 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) UIC Flames C 14 31 – (1984-09-15)15 September 1984 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) Killester F 15 27 – (1989-02-24)24 February 1989 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) Swords Thunder PG 16 Kyle Hosford 27 – (1989-06-27)27 June 1989 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) UCC Demons	Head coach Colin O'Reilly Assistant coach(es) Puff Summers Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 28 June 2016

2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries: finished 3rd among 7 teams^[21]

Ireland men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 4 24 – (1993-07-21)21 July 1993 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) UCC Demons SG 5 22 – (1995-07-10)10 July 1995 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Belfast Star G 6 23 – (1994-12-08)8 December 1994 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Templeogue PG 7 22 – (1995-08-16)16 August 1995 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Moycullen SG 8 27 – (1991-01-16)16 January 1991 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) Swords Thunder F 9 Jordan Blount 21 – (1997-01-05)5 January 1997 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) UIC Flames PG 10 25 – (1993-06-21)21 June 1993 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Killester SF 11 30 – (1987-10-15)15 October 1987 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) UCD Marian F 12 Taiwo Badmus 24 – (1993-07-03)3 July 1993 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Virginia–Wise C 14 26 – (1992-05-26)26 May 1992 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) Belfast Star C 15 21 – (1996-07-10)10 July 1996 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Killester C 16 35 – (1983-03-31)31 March 1983 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) Moycullen	Head coach Pete Strickland Assistant coach(es) Ioannis Liapakis Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 26 June 2018

2021 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries: finished 1st among 5 teams^[22]

Ireland men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 4 28 – (1993-07-21)21 July 1993 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) PG 5 19 – (2002-06-24)24 June 2002 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) Lafayette Leopards G 6 26 – (1994-12-08)8 December 1994 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Templeogue G 7 24 – (1996-09-10)10 September 1996 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) PG 8 Kyle Hosford 32 – (1989-06-27)27 June 1989 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) UCC Demons F 9 29 – (1991-09-18)18 September 1991 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Tralee Warriors PG 10 28 – (1993-06-21)21 June 1993 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Killester F 11 29 – (1992-02-29)29 February 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Templeogue C 12 Will Hanley 31 – (1990-03-12)12 March 1990 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) Hebraica Macabi F 13 Jordan Blount 24 – (1997-01-05)5 January 1997 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) F 14 26 – (1995-03-16)16 March 1995 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Zamora C 15 Jason Killeen (C) 36 – (1985-01-22)22 January 1985 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) Templeogue	Head coach Mark Keenan Assistant coach(es) Adrian Fulton Puff Summers Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 10 August 2021

Kit[]

Manufacturer[]

2016: Macron

See also[]

• Sport in Ireland
• Ireland women's national basketball team
• Ireland men's national under-20 basketball team
• Ireland men's national under-18 basketball team
• Ireland men's national under-16 basketball team
• Ireland men's national 3x3 team
• Super League

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ireland men's national basketball team.

• Official website
• Ireland at FIBA site
• Ireland National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
• Ireland Basketball Records at FIBA Archive