By Rob Vona
When walking under the Maple Leaf Gardens marquee sign at 50 Carlton St., one expects to see Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students, athletes and fans bracing for another season.
However, this summer, the same seats that often feature students looking to unwind and enjoy a hockey game after a long day of school, transformed into seats that held a fiery crowd.
Instead, students and others alike unwound by taking in some of the best up-and-coming basketball products the world has to offer.
The Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) was the place to be for basketball in Toronto this summer as GLOBL JAM—the tournament that featured up-and-coming women’s and men’s basketball prospects representing their countries—made the MAC its home for the second year in a row.
The under-23-year-old (U23), five-on-five tournament ran from July 12-16. This year, some of the TMU Bold men’s basketball team took centre stage as four of their own played a role in Team Canada’s men’s squad.
Throughout the event, the MAC seats were filled to the brim with die-hard basketball fans from across North America. National Basketball Association (NBA) players Nickeil Alexander-Walker, RJ Barrett and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were also some of those in attendance.
“It’s a chance to support our guys, watch some high-level and just be a fan”
Aaron Rhooms, a third-year forward for the Bold, took part in his first GLOBL JAM event for Team Canada this year. He said it was an honour and a privilege to be able to don his country’s name across his chest.
“It’s a whole different feeling when you’re representing your country,” Rhooms said. “It’s the first time I’ve been able to do that…it’s just a little different when you’re wearing that red and white.”
TMU’s representation didn’t stop on the court; multiple Bold basketball staff members were tapped to help Team Canada prepare for the tournament on the bench and behind the scenes.
Bold head coach David DeAveiro served as an assistant coach for Team Canada, while Bold assistant coach Aprille Deus was assigned the role of video coordinator for the team. The team’s student manager in logistics, Vincent Chu, also took part as an assistant coach with DeAveiro.
Although the four were tasked with vastly different roles, they all raved about the event.
“I haven’t really been a part of anything like that on that type of scale,” said Chu, who had previously been a part of Team Canada’s coaching staff in 2022.
“It’s a whole different feeling when you’re representing your country”
Chu also mentioned the addition of the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team—a team he has been watching for years—and the Louisville Cardinals women’s basketball team drew in a large crowd, bringing an energy to the building that feels way different than TMU Bold games.
The Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball program has produced over 30 NBA draft picks over the last 10 years, the most by any National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 school.
The program has also produced many Canadian basketball players throughout the last 120 years, including Kitchener, Ont. native and recent NBA Champion Jamal Murray and Hamilton, Ont. product Gilgeous-Alexander, who made the All-NBA First Team this past season.
Besides the high-level of basketball, the environment was unforgettable for the people involved. Deus noted that the event as a whole was electric, dubbing it a “whirlwind” and saying it was an experience unlike any other.
Rhooms also said some of Team Canada’s games featured sold-out crowds and that fans were very engaged in the games.
“It just shows how much the community is involved with Toronto basketball,” Rhooms said. “It shows how much they support the uprising of Canada basketball.”
The event resulted in both the men’s and women’s Canadian teams finishing in second place, with the men’s team losing to Kentucky and the women losing to Louisville, both of whom were representing Team USA.
In spite of placing second, the experience was still positive nonetheless for all TMU Bold members that were involved.
“It’s surreal in the sense that you have these under-23 kids playing their hearts out for Team Canada and they probably never would have [otherwise] because as a young person, it’s hard to make the senior roster,” said Deus. “When you get the opportunity to see some young, world-class talent, you want to go.”
Deus also noted that a limited number of people are able to watch an NBA game in Toronto because “tickets are not cheap.” Although, she believes while the price is more affordable for GLOBL JAM, basketball fans attended the event because of the sheer love of being downtown and the growing interest and love for the sport rather than simply affordability.
However, affordability and enthusiasm go hand-in-hand in making GLOBL JAM an attractive event to attend.
The average cost for a ticket to watch a Toronto Raptors game is around $154, according to The National Post. For the same price as a Raptors game, fans could have secured tickets to all 16 games at GLOBL JAM—including the men’s and women’s gold medal games—according to their website.
“Usually when you want to watch high-level basketball you’re watching the Raptors, we understand how expensive tickets can be sometimes or how busy it gets so they sell out, so to have something like this…you’re getting to watch high-level NCAA basketball,” said Chu.
Chu describes GLOBL JAM as an event for the city catering to the basketball community. He encourages more people to attend in the future because “it’s a chance to support our guys, watch some high-level basketball and just be a fan.”
Rhooms said for him, the event was a full-circle moment. Playing at the same venue his school team plays at, he felt like it was his home crowd.
“Having it at the venue of TMU, it just brought more variety to the school and the building,” he said. “I’m hoping that with my involvement it brings some more support to the TMU program for basketball and athletics in general.”
“When it comes to GLOBL JAM, I would rather be an early adopted rather than a late one”
Rhooms believes that GLOBL JAM is only “going to get bigger from here.”
However, the real impact was the one off the court. The event’s unique identity and dynamic are beginning to bring people in from more than just Toronto. “You saw people come from all over the place, it was an opportunity for everyone to be a part of something,” Chu said.
After the tournament had concluded, DeAveiro mentioned the atmosphere was much better than last year and Canada Basketball did a great job at promoting the event. “I look forward to next year’s games already,” he said.
Deus added to that notion as she believes the event is “here to stay.”
“When it comes to GLOBL JAM, I would rather be an early adopter than a late one,” Deus joked. “You want to be able to be there and say ‘I was a part of history.’”
While the MAC has already converted back to its original site for TMU Bold home games, the city awaits the announcement of a 2024 GLOBL JAM that—if it returns for a third year—is sure to feature world-class U23 basketball talent yet again, only this time bigger and better.
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