By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

While they won’t have all of the top players, head coach Moses Johnson has released the names of what is considered to be a solid team to represent the Bahamas Basketball Federation at the 2024 AmeriCup Qualifier.

Anchored around National Basketball Association’s free agent Kai Jones and veteran Jaraun ‘Kino’ Burrows, the team will feature a mixture of youth and veteran players in their home-and-away matchup against Puerto Rico.

Joining Jones and Burrows on the team are Domnick Bridgewater, David Nesbitt, Eron Gordon, Kentwan Smith, Rashad Davis, Emmanuel Newsome, Godfey Rolle, Tavario Miller and Aaron Levarity.

Team Bahamas will first play Puerto Rico on Thursday, February 22 in an away game at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at 7:10pm Eastern time.

They will return home on Friday to prepare for their second matchup on Sunday, February 25 at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

At the conclusion of the first window of the AmeriCup this weekend, the Bahamas will be back in action in November and February, 2025 for the remaining two windows for a chance to be one of three teams to advance to the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 slated to be hosted at the Alexis Argüello Sports Centre in Managua, Nicaragua.

However, Team Bahamas will also get a chance to play in the Qualifying Tournament for the 2024 Olympic Games in Valencia, Spain, July 2-7. If successful, the team will head to Paris, France for the Olympics, scheduled for July 26 to August 11.

Johnson, the federation’s first vice president and an assistant coach on the men’s national team, takes over the role as head coach for AmeriCup team in the absence of head coach Chris DeMarco of the Golden State Warriors.

DeMarco, who coached the men’s team as they booked their ticket to Spain by winning the FIBA Men’s Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament last year in Argentina, won’t be able to make the trip this week due to his obligation to the Warriors.

Not available as well are Chavano “Buddy” Hield, now with the Philadelphia 76ers, Deandre Ayton, now with the Portland Trail Blazers and Eric Gordon, now with the Phoenix Suns.

The trio played a pivotal role in Team Bahamas’ victory in the Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Argentina to get to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. It’s the first time that the Bahamas has reached this stage in the FIBA competition.

Like DeMarco, they are all competing this week for their respective teams as the NBA kicks off the second half of their season following the All-Star break over the weekend in Indiana.