The Hamilton Honey Badgers will be the first Hamilton sports franchise to return home to Hamilton to play following the shutdown of sports in March of 2020 when the club opens training camp at FirstOntario Centre on Thursday morning. The eight-day training camp precedes the team’s season-opening three-game road trip that tips off Saturday, June 26 in Edmonton against the 2020 CEBL champion Edmonton Stingers in a game that will be nationally televised on CBC starting at 4 p.m. Eastern time.

Fifteen players bringing NBA, NBA G League, top international pro league, and U SPORTS experience will be on the court at 11 a.m. Thursday under the guidance of second-year head coach Ryan Schmidt. Canadian National team veteran Aaron Best is completing his team’s season in France’s premier league and is expected to join the team in July.

General Manager Jermaine Anderson has re-signed five returnees. 2020 All-CEBL First team member Jean-Victor Mukama, Cody John, Alex Johnson, and Kalif Young return from last year’s squad. U SPORTS player Thomas Kennedy, who was with Hamilton in 2019, returns as a Developmental roster player between his seasons with the University of Windsor.

Twelve of Hamilton’s 15 players are Canadians. Three Americans—Charles Cooke III, Trevon Duval, and Malcolm Rhett bring extensive high-level experience from the NBA, NBA G League and Europe’s best leagues.

Media Contact:

Maria Suriani

Director, Operations and Community Engagement

msuriani@honeybadgers.ca