Laois man selected on Irish senior Basketball squad for upcoming matches

Laois native James Gormley has been named as part of an Irish Basketball 12 man squad that will compete in the upcoming Eurobasket pre-qualifiers. 

From Mountmellick, Gormley is playing his club basketball with Baloncestro Aguimes in Las Palmas, Spain and has impressed head coach Mark Keenan enough to make the final squad.

Originally called in as part of the extended squad for games against Switzerland and Cyprus, the centre has made the cut and will see game time in Switzerland and Ireland in the next week.

In 2019 Gormley became the first Portlaoise Panthers player to be capped by Ireland at senior level.

Gormley first started making headlines when he headed off to the USA on a basketball scholarship when he was just seventeen years old. His relentless work rate and fearless mindset at such a young age has been instrumental in his basketball career thus far.

Before he headed off to the States, Gormley traveled to the Red Star camp in Serbia and then on to Lithuania for a month, which included workouts with the legendary coach Steponas Kairys. 

The Mountmellick man, who clocks in at a whopping seven foot in height, enjoyed a year over in a US high school in Alabama and played his basketball with Team Carroll Premier. 

A former Portlaoise Panthers and Portarlington Kestrals player, he has now progressed in his career and has moved up through the grades with Ireland to now be a part of the Senior squad.

Ireland senior men’s squad

Kyle Hosford (UCC Demons), Ciaran Roe (Killester), Sean Flood (Omonia Nicosia), Adrian O’Sullivan (Tradehouse Central Ballincollig), Cian Heaphy (C&S Neptune), Roy Downey (C&S Neptune), Lorcan Murphy (Griffith College Templeogue), Keelan Cairns (Tradehouse Central Ballincollig), Taiwo Badmus (U.M.F Tindastoll Sauoarkrokur), Jordan Blount (UMF Sindri Hofn), John Carroll (Albacete), James Gormley (Baloncestro Aguimes)

February Fixtures

FIBA EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers First Round

24th February 2022

Switzerland v Ireland 1830, Site Sportif Saint-Leonard, Fribourg (Streamed live on Ireland.basketball and YouTube)

27th February 2022

Ireland v Cyprus, 1700, National Basketball Arena, Dublin (Streamed live on Ireland.basketball and YouTube).