Tag: Manchester Magic Alumni

Jordan and Patrick Whelan

Brothers in Arms

Big congratulations to two outstanding basketball players who spent 7 years in the Magic programme learning their skills.

The Whelan brothers, Jordan and Patrick, compete in the BBL Cup Final in Birmingham on Sunday 30th January on opposite sides! Jordan is with Manchester Giants and Patrick is with Leicester Riders.

Jordan, the older brother, left the Club at 18 years to play College ball in the USA, firstly at Frank Phillips College in Texas, then to Mid-American Nazarene University in Kansas. After finishing his College career, he secured a 2-year Pro contract in Germany before returning to England to play BBL basketball at Worcester, London Lions and finally returned to play for his local BBL team, Manchester Giants.

Patrick spent 4 years at William Jewell College (NCAA Division 2) in Missouri after finishing his A Levels in England. He then took up the offer of a Pro contract in Spain (LEB Gold/Silver) for 3 years. He is now in the first year of a 2-year Masters course at Loughborough University whilst playing for Leicester Riders.

Both brothers are very fine products of our Magic programme and excellent examples of the standards we try to instil at the Magic, both on and off the floor.

We wish them all the best in the Cup Final and remain neutral about the result!

The brothers appeared on The BBL Show to discuss facing off in the Final:

Ex-Magic junior Ani ready for Bayern Challenge

Ex-Magic junior Ani ready for Bayern challenge

Jason Ani was heading to the United States after securing a move to top prep outfit Hillcrest in Arizona after ending his junior career with Manchester Magic.

But visa issues amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic meant the former Loreto Sixth Form College and St Peter’s RC High School student chose Europe instead.

And after a successful workout with Bayern, the 6ft 4in guard, a key member of Magic’s EABL and Senior Men programmes, will spend this season playing Pro B and U19 basketball for the club.

How did the move to Bayern come about?

JA: “Playing in Germany, my home country, had always been at the back of my mind, but I never really took it seriously until late September, when I wasn’t being granted a visa to fly to the United States. I had a team-mate I played AAU with in the States who had played in Germany. One day, I just texted him and asked if he could reach out to some teams for me. He gave my highlights to his coach who knew a few coaches in Germany. Around two days later, I got a phone call in the morning from Bayern, asking me to trial and that they were interested.”

What are your first impressions of the club?

JA: “When I first got to Bayern, my mind was blown. Their facilities are, in my opinion, NBA-level. They had everything. Even the younger players are treated like professionals. They really take it seriously and that’s what helped make my mind up. I felt like Bayern could get me to the level I need to be at to reach my full potential.”

How tough was it to turn down Hillcrest?

JA: “It was very tough. I’m not great at having tough conversations with people. It stressed me out at first because I really wanted to go there and it was already all over social media that I was going to the US. After thinking it through, the best option was definitely Bayern.”

What are your goals with Bayern?

JA: “After this year, I am going to evaluate my options. I love it here but, really and truly, my first goal is to play Division 1 basketball in the States. If I get the opportunity to play at a programme that’s big enough to be on the level of Bayern, then I may consider it. If not, then I will turn pro and hopefully continue playing at Bayern.”

Which Magic players are you still in contact with?

JA: “I talk to a few guys from my team, especially the ones who are in the States, like Saul (May) and Luke (Gordos). I always want to know how things are going. I also keep in touch with the younger players in the current Magic U18 squad as they’ve known me from a young age. They ask me for advice a lot and I’m always there to help out because I relied on older players, like Kaiyem (Cleary) and Mike (Anumba). They taught me things and helped out a lot.”

Good luck at Bayern, Jason. We’ll be following your progress.

Magic and Mystics Great Britain

Summer of International Basketball Schedule 2019

Great Britain Summer Schedule 2019:

The links below contain both LiveStats and LiveStreams (if available)

Great Britain Senior Men 7-21 August EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifiers Group G

7 August Kosovo 63-71 GB Men at 7:30pm

10 August GB Men 71-54 Luxembourg at 7:00pm (at the National Basketball Performance Centre)

17 August GB Men 101-79 Kosovo at 7:00pm (at the National Basketball Performance Centre)

21 August Luxembourg 65-93 GB Men at 6:00pm

GB Senior Men advance to the EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers, they will play in Group G with Germany, Montenegro and France and games will be played over three windows in February 2020, November/December 2020 and February 2021.

Great Britain Senior Women 27 June – 7 July Latvia and Serbia – Women’s EuroBasket, Group A (Mystics’ Georgia Jones, former Mystics’ Mollie Campbell and Hannah Shaw)

27 June GB Women 74-60 Latvia at 4:30pm – Georgia Jones played 11 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, Hannah Shaw and Mollie Campbell did not play.

28 June Spain 67-59 GB Women at 7:00pm – Georgia Jones played 24 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, Mollie Campbell played 7 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 assist, Hannah Shaw did not play.

30 June Ukraine 54-68 GB Women at 11:00am – Georgia Jones played 17 minutes, 1 assist, Mollie Campbell and Hannah Shaw did not play.

1 July Quarter-Final Qualifier GB Women 92-71 Montenegro at 7:00pm – Georgia Jones played 5 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, Hannah Shaw played 2 minutes and Mollie Campbell did not play.

4 July Quarter-Finals Hungary 59-62 GB Women at 11:30am – Georgia Jones played 13 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, Mollie Campbell and Hannah Shaw did not play.

6 July Semi-Finals France 63-56 GB Women at 5:00pm – Georgia Jones played 4 minutes, 1 assist, Mollie Campbell and Hannah Shaw did not play.

7 July 3rd/4th place Serbia 81-55 GB Women at 4:30pm – Georgia Jones played 12 mintes, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal, Mollie Campbell and Hannah Shaw did not play.

Great Britain Women finished a historic fourth and Qualified for the 2020 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Great Britain U20 Women 3-11 August Prishtina, Kosovo – Division B, Group B (Mystics’ Coach Jeff Jones Head Coach, former Mystic’ Hannah Shaw Assistant Coach)

4 August Ireland 72-58 GB U20 Women at 6:00pm

5 August GB U20 Women 58-53 Ukraine at 3:30pm

7 August Second Round Croatia 67-89 GB U20 Women at 6:00pm Group E

8 August Second Round GB U20 Women 67-47 Israel at 3:30pm Group E

10 August Semi-Finals Finland 86-68 GB U20 Women at 6:00pm

11 August 3-4 Classification Games Ireland 60-57 GB U20 Women at 3:30pm

Great Britain U20 Women finish 4th.

Great Britain U20 Men 13-21 July Tel Aviv, Israel – Division A, Group A (Magic Alum Kaiyem Cleary)

13 July Turkey 69-56 GB U20 Men at 2:30pm – Kaiyem Cleary played 6 minutes, 3 rebounds.

14 July GB U20 Men 60-74 France at 4:15pm – Kaiyem Cleary did not play.

15 July Montenegro 72-68 GB U20 Men at 11:45am – Kaiyem Cleary did not play.

17 July Round of 16 Serbia 72-77 GB U20 Men at 2:00pm – Kaiyem Cleary played 8 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist. (Div A Status secured for 2020)

18 July Quarter-Finals GB U20 Men 56-81 Germany at 2:00pm- Kaiyem Cleary played 17 minutes, 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals.

20 July 5-8 Classification Games Turkey 104-87 GB U20 Men at 2:30pm – Kaiyem Cleary played 15 minutes, 3 rebounds, 1 assist.

21 July 7-8 Classification Games Croatia 82-63 GB U20 Men at 11:45am – Kaiyem Cleary played 27 minutes, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal.

Great Britain U20 Men finish 8th.

Great Britain U18 Men 27 July – 4 August Volos, Greece – Division A, Group A

27 July GB U18 Men 61-102 Turkey at 2:45pm

28 July Serbia 85-87 GB U18 Men at 2:45pm (after overtime)

29 July GB U18 Men 66-86 Germany at 12:30pm

31 July Round of 16 Montenegro 62-77 GB U18 Men at 5:00pm (Div A Status secured for 2020)

1 August Quarter-Finals GB U18 57-71 Slovenia at 5:00pm

3 August 5-8 Classification Games France 81-52 GB U18 Men at 2:45pm

4 August 7-8 Classification Games Lithuania 88-70 GB U18 Men at 12:30pm

Great Britain U18 Men finish 8th.

Great Britain U18 Women 5-14 July Skopje, North Macedonia – Division B, Group D (Mystics’ Jade Mbam)

5 July GB U18 Women 48-73 Netherlands at 5:45pm – Jade Mbam started, played 17 minutes, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.

6 July Sweden 81-38 GB U18 Women at 3:30pm – Jade Mbam played 12 minutes, 1 assist.

7 July Ukraine 65-46 GB U18 Women at 5:45pm – Jade Mbam played 16 minutes, 3 points, 3 assists.

9 July GB U18 Women 67-50 Albania at 1:15pm – Jade Mbam started, played 27 minutes, 15 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.

10 July Luxembourg 38-36 GB U18 Women at 8:00pm – Jade Mbam started, played 23 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 1 steal.

12 July 17-23 Classification Games GB U18 Women 57-54 North Macedonia at 8:00pm – Jade Mbam started, played 25 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal.

13 July 17-20 Classification Games Austria 67-52 GB U18 Women at 8:00pm – Jade Mbam started, played 27 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist.

14 July 19-20 Classification Games Norway 40-55 GB U18 Women at 1:15pm – Jade Mbam started, played 19 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals.

Great Britain U18 Women finish 19th.

Great Britain U16 Men 8-17 August Podgorica, Montenegro – Division B, Group D (Magic’s Ceejay Hanson and Victor Ndoukou Faroukou)

8 August GB U16 Men 57-63 Finland at 5:15pm – Ceejay Hanson played 12 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, Victor Faroukou did not play.

9 August Slovakia 58-74 GB U16 Men at 5:15pm – Ceejay Hanson played 8 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, Victor Faroukou played 21 minutes, 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.

10 August Austria 45-62 GB U16 Men at 7:30pm – Ceejay Hanson played 16 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, Victor Faroukou started, played 24 minutes, 3 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals.

12 August GB U16 Men 70-105 Belgium at 3:00pm – Ceejay Hanson played 13 minutes, 2 assists, 1 steal, Victor Faroukou started, played 19 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds.

13 August Romania 80-63 GB U16 Men at 12:45pm – Ceejay Hanson played 13 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, Victor Faroukou started, played 19 minutes, 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block.

15 August 9-16 Classification Games Iceland 83-84 GB U16 Men at 7:30pm – Ceejay Hanson played 21 minutes, 16 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, Victor Faroukou played 14 minutes, 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists.

16 August 9-12 Classification Games Portugal 69-73 GB U16 Men at 7:30pm – Ceejay Hanson played 15 minutes, 3 points, 1 assist, Victor Faroukou played 21 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.

17 August 9-10 Classification Games Ukraine 83-60 GB U16 Men at 5:15pm – Ceejay Hanson played 10 minutes, 3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, Victor Faroukou played 18 minutes, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals.

GB Under 16 Men finish 10th.

Great Britain U16 Women 15-24 August Sofia, Bulgaria – Division B, Group B

15 August GB U16 Women 41-46 Portugal at 4:15pm

16 August Belarus 61-58 GB U16 Women at 4:15pm

17 August GB U16 Women 84-47 Albania at 2:00pm

19 August Ireland 54-61 GB U16 Women at 6:30pm

20 August Austria 44-66 GB U16 Women at 6:30pm

22 August Quarter-Finals Slovenia 57-40 GB U16 Women at 11:45am

23 August 5-8 Classification Games GB U16 Women 69-46 Ukraine at 11:45am

24 August 5-6 Classification Games GB U16 Women 63-75 Serbia at 2:00pm

GB U16 Women finish 6th.

Magic and Mystics Great Britain

Magic Alum Cleary selected in Great Britain U20 final 12 for Europeans

Congratulations to Manchester Magic Alum Kaiyem Cleary, who has been selected in the Great Britain U20 Men’s final 12 for the FIBA European Division A Championships in Tel Aviv.

Schedule

Great Britain U20 Men 13-21 July – Group A

13 July Turkey vs GB U20 Men at 2:30pm

14 July GB U20 Men vs France at 4:15pm

15 July Montenegro vs GB U20 Men at 11:45am

17 July Round of 16

18 July Quarter-Finals / 9-16 Classification Games

20 July Semi-Finals / 5-16 Classification Games

21 July Final / 3-16 Classification Games