Juggy returns to River Lions

The Niagara River Lions’ quest to defend its Canadian Elite Basketball League title began last week with the signing of Jahvon (Juggy) Blair.

Last season, the 6-foot-4 guard from Brampton averaged 18.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and garnered CEBL All-Canadian and All-CEBL Second Team honours.

Currently, Blair, who was named to Canada Basketball’s senior men’s roster for the FIBA AmeriCup qualifier, is averaging 18.8 points, 2.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds in 29.8 minutes per game with Poiters Basket 86 in France’s LNB Pro B league.

“Niagara is family. It was a no brainer to come back to play for the best team and fans in the CEBL,” Blair told the River Lions’ website. “I am looking forward to continuing our winning culture and cannot wait to get back to the Meridian Centre. Thank you to coach Vic for allowing me to be part of this great organization.”

Raso is thrilled to have Blair back.

“Juggy as a Canadian was absolutely exceptional. To be a second team all-star and All-Canadian is invaluable and Jahvon is a very special teammate who brings energy every single day. He loves being in Niagara and his game has really blossomed,” he said. “Coming out of Georgetown, he was a shooter and a bit of a gunner on offence and he has transformed his game into being an efficient scorer but also a defender and rebounder. It is not often that offensive-minded players improve their game in the professional ranks as rapidly as he has and that speaks to his maturity and his mentality, His teammates love him and Juggy is incredibly important for us.”

Raso hopes it is the first step in the return of last year’s championship roster.

“It is important for us to bring back as many as we possibly can from last year. That team we had last year was a special group and most of our guys are in the prime of their careers. When you have a group like that, you do whatever it takes to get that group back. The main guys will all be back and I am very excited.”

Many of last year’s players have already been signed and they will be announced in the coming weeks.

Raso and all the other general managers in the league will be dealing with the challenges of the league increasing the number of games to 24 from 22. The increased schedule will see the season start one week earlier in May and end two weeks later August.

“Even in a typical year like last year where we didn’t have the first game until May 25ish, some of our players are late coming back. We didn’t have Khalil (Ahmed) until mid-June because of his overseas season,” Raso said. “This season, with our first game being May 16, we are going to have a very different roster for the month of May than we will the rest of the way. We may be in a situation where we only have two of our final 10 available for Game 1.”

The fact that the team will have a very different is roster is something he feels the team needs to properly communicate to the fans.

“That will be a constraint that every general manager is going to have in our league because the overseas seasons tend to end mid-May and if you make the playoffs, they go a little bit longer than that. All of our players are successful players in Europe and therefore we will have a very different team to start the year than we will mid-June.”

The season ending later also presents issues with players having to leave early because of their overseas commitments.

“We are doing everything we can on the front end. Agents are working so that on the players’ next contracts, they know they have obligations until Aug. 23. In many cases, the players have enough leverage and teams want them so that is something they can negotiate but there is always going to be situations where guys can’t turn down 10-month job offers for staying an extra week here. I understand that. There is a little bit of luck of involved but it’s just doing all the necessary pre-work with agents to make sure we set ourselves up as best we can.”

Training camp will to open May 8 with the home opener scheduled for May 16 versus the Calgary Surge.

Niagara River Lions’ season tickets and voucher packs are on sale now. Group tickets and single game tickets will be available in the coming months. Ticket information can be found at www.riverlions.ca/tickets or by calling 289-273-5905.