MARK KEENAN HAS been re-appointed as head coach of the Ireland men’s basketball team through the end of the upcoming pre-qualifying campaign for the 2027 Fiba Basketball World Cup.
Ireland will begin their pre-qualifiers away to Kosovo on 22 February and Keenan’s extension was formalised at a meeting of Basketball Ireland’s Elite Performance Committee back in November.
Dubliner Keenan took charge of Ireland in 2019. Two years later, he delivered a first piece of silverware for an Irish senior men’s team since 1994 when he led his side to victory in the European Championship for Small Countries in 2021.
Keenan had captained that ’94 Ireland team to success at the Promotions Cup. He has been steeped in Irish basketball, either as a player or as a coach, for over 40 years and he remains head coach of Templeogue Basketball Club in the InsureMyVan.ie Super League.
“I’m absolutely delighted to be back,” Keenan said. “We weren’t ready as a staff to let it go at this stage. I still have great enthusiasm about the programme and I felt that continuity and progression are very important during this next cycle.”
Ireland have been drawn in Group A for World Cup pre-qualifying, alongside Switzerland, Kosovo and Azerbaijan. The top team in the group will progress to the next phase of qualifying along with the best-ranked second-placed team across all three groups.
Keenan will take his squad to Prishtina for the opening game with Kosovo on Thursday 22 February before welcoming Switzerland to the National Basketball Arena on Sunday February 25th. Tickets for that game can be purchased here.
“It’s a tough start,” Keenan said. “It’s going to be a competitive group, because Kosovo are very tough. We know Switzerland very well having faced them twice in the first round of qualification for FIBA EuroBasket 2025 and Azerbaijan will be fierce opposition as well, but we are really up for the challenge,” he added.
In Keenan’s coaching staff, Belfast Star head coach Adrian Fulton also returns for another term. So too does SETU Carlow’s Lawrence Summers and team manager Mike Hickey.
Deirdre Brennan, chair of Basketball Ireland’s Elite Performance Committee, added: “We are delighted that Mark and his staff are staying on for the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European pre-qualifiers.
“The steady improvement of the team under his tutelage was evident during our victories against Cyprus and Luxembourg in the previous qualifying cycle and we are excited to see that continue in the first game with Kosovo and the home game with Switzerland next month.
“Mark has introduced a number of young players in that time and we feel that he deserved the opportunity to continue that excellent work in the coming years.”
James is right. These universities make millions off these athletes and don’t pay them. The NBA need to change their eligibility rules to allow highschool players enter the NBA. Get rid of the ‘One and Done’
@Stipe Miocic: These universities are making billions from these athletes. Players are not allowed get part-time jobs, get gifts or endorsements and sometimes have to get their parents to pay for everyday meals that the players can’t afford.
@EK: it’s a ridiculous state of affairs, the ‘education’ these kids get is a joke, the majority don’t complete their respective degrees, and the old ‘they’re getting a free education’ is nonsense, a few years ago Time magazine did a piece about it and what SEC colleges were making, it was around the time Johnny Manziel got suspended for getting paid for an autograph signing, that year the University of Texas ‘Longhorns’ revenue from their football program was $105 million, profit on that, $85million, there isn’t too many businesses with margins like that
@Ruairí Mul: in the week just gone there was a Notre Dame footballer who tweeted he was ‘broke and starving’, someone from south bend (where the college is based) responded saying he was welcome in their home for dinner, if he had taken up their offer he would be in breach of NCAA rules
Farcical at this stage