TORONTO — Two years ago, A.J. Lawson watched childhood buddy R.J. Barrett lead Canada’s under-19 team to a historic gold medal at the 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Cairo, Egypt.
Only 16 at the time, Lawson wasn’t able to make that team’s roster and share in that glory with Barrett.
Now, however, Lawson will get his own shot at history as he looks to help Canada’s under-19 squad defend its title at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Heraklion, Greece.
“We’re ready for everything that’s gonna come against us and we just gotta play hard and show them what we’ve got and what we’re capable of doing,” said Lawson last week in Toronto.
A much different group than the gold-medal winning outfit that won in 2017, this group, as its head coach Dan Vanhooren said, still features a lot of “length and size” — a staple of any Canadian team at this point — but is lighter on obvious star power like the team Barrett headlined.
That’s why there will be a lot put onto the shoulders of Lawson, a Toronto native who just finished a strong freshman year at South Carolina, finishing second on the team in scoring with a 13.4-per-game average.
He will be looked to as the de facto leader for this Canadian squad that only features two other university-level players (one of whom is playing Canadian university U Sports basketball in Windsor).
“He’s gonna be our team captain when we get over there and we’re very excited and fortunate to have a player of his quality not only on the floor but also with the level of character that he possesses and the intellect that he has,” said Vanhooren.
Took some darkness to finally see the light pic.twitter.com/5t0FN7LUhx
— AJ Lawson (@ItsAJLawson) June 25, 2019
Added Lawson of being counted on as a team leader: “I’m definitely aware of it. I’m just trying to help the younger guys learn from me and try to teach them some new things. And then the older guys around my age that hasn’t been through college yet, I try to teach them some of the things I went through this year in college.”
Canada will begin tournament play against Australia on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Currently the No. 2 ranked basketball nation in the world in “boys” competition, in the Group B Canada finds itself, only Australia (ranked No. 10) should provide any true difficulty for Canada, who will also see Latvia (No. 13) and Mali (No. 27) in the group.
Because of Canada’s elite status and the fact that they are the defending champs, the team knows it’ll have a target on its back, but that doesn’t mean the team will be putting any pressure on itself.
“I don’t think there should be any pressure for them,” said Vanhooren. “It’s a different team, it’s a different group of guys. Had it been the same group maybe they would feel that but at this stage I think it’s a responsibility of ours with Team Canada to perform the way that we can and make sure that we’re going after it.”
And Canada will have Lawson leading the charge doing just that.
“We’re just excited to be in this position that we are in to defend the world championship,” said Lawson. “We definitely want to bring that gold home and we just can’t wait to play and show what we can do.”
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Canada’s Under-19 FIBA Basketball World Cup Roster
| Name | Height | Hometown | Current School Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe | 6’6″ | Lakeshore, Ont. | Orangeville Prep |
| Keon Ambrose-Hylton | 6’8″ | Whitby, Ont. | Andrews Osborne Academy |
| Charles Bediako | 6’11” | Brampton, Ont. | Andrews Osborne Academy |
| Jaden Bediako | 6’10” | Brampton, Ont. | Ridley College |
| Joel Brown | 6’2″ | Brampton, Ont. | Brewster Academy |
| Thomas Kennedy | 6’9″ | Windsor, Ont. | University of Windsor |
| AJ Lawson | 6’6″ | Toronto, Ont. | University of South Carolina |
| Karim Mane | 6’4″ | Saint-Hubert, Que. | Vanier College |
| Jahcobi Neath | 6’4″ | Toronto, Ont. | Crestwood Preparatory |
| Josh Primo | 6’4″ | Mississauga, Ont. | Huntington Prep |
| Tyrese Samuel | 6’8″ | LaSalle, Que. | Orangeville Prep |
| Damion Squire | 5’11” | LaSalle, Que. | University of California, Davis |
