Team Canada member returns home
Quinten Ethier is coming home.
After beginning his high school basketball career at Saint Francis in Grade 9, the 16-year-old St. Catharines resident played last season with the Brampton City Prep junior team. This fall, he will suit up for the Ridley College Tigers in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association.
“It is a good program and it is an OSBA school as well. They play in some good tournaments and they do some travelling,” the 6-foot-4 shooting guard said. “I have built a real good connection with coach Victor (Raso). I really like what he is planning to do next year and they are bringing in some guys like Caleb (Roberts) and Callum (Smith) who I am familiar with. I am hoping it will be a solid squad.”
Returning home for a few years before embarking on his post-secondary hoops career also played a factor in his decision.
“It’s nice to feel the comfort of home again and sleeping in my own bed.”
He received his first NCAA Division 1 offer a few weeks ago from the University of Albany, which plays in the America East Conference.
“I am hoping to get more exposure on my journey and continue to grow as a player.”
Ethier can’t wait to get started at Ridley.
“I am looking forward to being at home and in the gym a lot. I will be able to come in here and get shots up like I am doing now,” he said. “I want to get familiar with all the guys and I’m excited to get to know all my new teammates and the education as well. You can’t beat the education here.”
Ethier will be bringing international experience to his new team. This past June, he was a member of Team Canada at the FIBA U16 Men’s Americas Championship 2023 held in Yucatan, Mexico.
The selection process started with two Thanksgiving 2022 identification camps and concluded with the final camp the last two weeks of May at the University of Toronto. It was a big thrill when he heard he had cracked the national team roster.
“They did a banquet and invited everybody’s parents. I didn’t know what it was going to be like but they called us all down and presented the jerseys to us and told us we would be competing at the tournament,” he said. “It was a big moment for me and it meant a lot especially being from a small town. It doesn’t happen very often at U16 and it was a great feeling for me.”
He wasn’t sure he had made the squad.
“I had hoped I had. I competed pretty well at the tryouts but it’s not that I had done a lot. I just played my game and I was hoping it would be enough. My skillset fit the role of what they needed for the team.”
He describes his game as “shooting, rebounding and being an all-around hustle guy. But mostly a shooter.”
He ended up slotting into a number of different positions in Mexico.
“I played shooting guard on the team but a lot of the time because we don’t have as much height in Canada I would be a three or a four.”
He finished as the third leading scorer on the team, averaging 9.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in the tournament, including 17 against Uruguay and 14 in a quarter-final victory over Mexico
“I performed pretty well. At times I could have done a little bit better but overall I feel that I did a solid job playing my role.”
Ethier is his own harshest critic.
“You can’t be too cocky about it.”
The tournament was a great learning experience.
“It gave me a good idea of all the things I need to work on, like ball-handling, getting to the net a bit more as well as quickness and stuff like that. And I need to start hitting the weight room a bit more. The strength of a lot of the guys at the competition was apparent. A lot of them were really strong, especially the guys from the USA.”
Canada ended up winning a silver medal in Mexico and in the process qualifying the FIBA U17 Men’s Basketball World Cup 2024.
He is not assuming he has earned a spot on that team based on his performance in June.
“The selection process starts all over again at Thanksgiving.”
While glad to be at Ridley, Ethier enjoyed his time in Brampton, where he billeted with his coach. The Brampton junior team was one of the top teams in Canada and played in the Premier League and on the National Junior Circuit.
“It was great for my development. I got a lot of gym time and we played a lot of games compared to what I did last year.”
