Laois basketball star named in Irish senior men’s squad for Los Angeles International Basketball Cup

Laois native James Gormley has been named as part of an Irish Basketball 12-man squad that will compete in the upcoming Los Angeles International Basketball Cup, which takes place on June 22/23 at Cal State University.

From Mountmellick, Gormley is playing his club basketball with Griffith College Éanna and has impressed head coach Mark Keenan ahead of their upcoming games against Guatemala and hosts Armenia, who sit 147th and 84th respectively in the FIBA World Rankings. Ireland are currently 88th.

In 2019, Gormley became the first Portlaoise Panthers player to be capped by Ireland at senior level. Gormley first started making headlines when he headed off to the USA on a basketball scholarship when he was just seventeen years old. His relentless work rate and fearless mindset at such a young age has been instrumental in his basketball career thus far.

Before he headed off to the States, Gormley traveled to the Red Star camp in Serbia and then on to Lithuania for a month, which included workouts with the legendary coach Steponas Kairys. 

The Mountmellick man, who clocks in at a whopping seven foot in height, enjoyed a year over in a US high school in Alabama and played his basketball with Team Carroll Premier. 

First up for Ireland will be a tie with Guatemala at 01:00 (Irish time) on Saturday June 22, before a contest against Armenia on Sunday, June 23 also at 01:00 (Irish time). Both games will be available to watch on YouTube.

Ireland’s 12-man squad:

Sean Flood (Den Helder, Netherlands), John Carroll (Unattached), Adrian O’Sullivan (Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU), Conor Quinn (Belfast Star), Sean Jenkins, James Gormley (Griffith College Éanna), Rapolas Buivydas (Garvey’s Tralee Warriors), Sam Alajiki (Oral Roberts University, USA), David Lehane (UCC Demons), Taiwo Badmus (Valur, Iceland), Matt Treacy (Gold Coast Wallabies, Switzerland), Eamonn Joyce (San Martin, Argentina).