By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

FORMER senior men’s national basketball team player JR Cadot is taking his talents to the sidelines. He recently joined the Sunrise Christian Academy coaching staff as an assistant coach for the upcoming 2024-25 season. 

He is just the latest member of the Bahamas senior men’s national basketball team to take on the coaching role abroad. 

Cadot had a great run playing basketball over the course of his career, but felt that picking up a coaching gig with Sunrise Christian Academy was the next step on his journey. “I liked what Sunrise Christian Academy was offering. I just felt like it was a better situation with the history in terms of Buddy Hield, Tum Tum and several other Bahamian guys playing here for the team. 

“It was easy for me to get in with the Bahamian guys who have already played here so it was easy for me to decide,” he said.

The Sunrise Christian Academy Buffaloes usually compete in the Nike EYBL Scholastic Conference which they won during the 2021-22 season. 

The team has competed in four exhibition games ahead of the upcoming season and picked up four victories along the way. 

The Buffaloes racked up victories against Toronto Prep and Strength N Motion at the All-American Jamboree on October 5.

They followed up those wins by prevailing against Fort Scott CC and Neosho CC on October 12.

Assistant coach Cadot said his expectations for this year’s basketball are very high.

“My expectations are definitely high just because of the history of what Sunrise has done basketball wise. This year alone, Sunrise had, I believe, five guys in the NBA draft who got picked up on two-way contracts. 

“Sunrise has produced a ton of NBA players and this conference we play in is definitely the highest level of high school basketball in America. My expectations are high not just based on who we are gonna be playing against, but actually because of the guys that we have. We are probably gonna have one if not the biggest high school team in the country,” he said. 

The 37-year-old has a wealth of basketball knowledge under his belt. He got his collegiate career started at Sheridan College where he averaged 15 points and 6.6 rebounds in 23 games played as a freshman. 

He upped his level of play during his sophomore campaign to average 17 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. 

Cadot was selected to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Third Team All-American and first-team All-Region IX.

He spent the next half of his collegiate career at Texas Christian University. The shooting guard turned in 9.8 points per game and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 56.6 per cent from the field to end his collegiate run.

Additionally, he has represented The Bahamas senior men’s national basketball team six times and played pro ball for over 12 years during his career. 

He said his experience as a former basketball player has helped him tremendously in his newest role as an assistant coach.

“I honestly always believed that experience is one of the best teachers. A guy who has experience with The Bahamas national basketball team for about 20 years both junior and senior, and I have worked out for the Houston Rockets and got invited to workout for the Chicago Bulls and played against guys who are in the NBA today. The wealth of knowledge that I have gained as a basketball player definitely allows me to connect with the guys more…It has been an easy process honestly and being a player makes it so much easier to be able to relate with them and teach them things that they could not see at this early point of their careers,” he said. 

Although coaching is his newest passion, Cadot admitted that sometimes he wants to suit up but finds more joy in the mentorship side of things these days.

“When you are on the sidelines you still want to play. I want to get out there and compete because I am so competitive but I have to remind myself  that I am not playing anymore. I am a coach now. There are times and there are seasons and I believe that with what I have left it is time to pass a lot of that knowledge onto the guys by coaching them, mentoring them and helping them on and off the court. I love basketball but the mentorship part of it as a former player is where I connect with the guys more,” he said.

The Buffaloes have a busy schedule ahead of them that begins with an opening home game against the OKC Storm Post Grad on Saturday at 2pm.

Sunrise will also have the opportunity to compete in the Nike/NBA Cup- NBA In-Season Tournament in December against Arizona Prep and VJ Edgecombe’s former high school Long Island Lutheran.