As the first man to land an NBA linked contract having come through the Irish system, the return of Belfast’s CJ Fulton to Michael Bree’s Irish basketball squad represents a huge boost.
It’s a long road to the EuroBasket 2029 competition, one now held every four years, but given the fact Ireland have never qualified, it’s very much baby steps.
Slovenia, Greece and Spain all qualify automatically as hosts and are all ranked inside the world’s top 14, with Estonia also hosting and qualifying for next year’s tournament (ranked 40).
The pre-qualifiers saw Ireland drawn against North Macedonia, Luxembourg, and Azerbaijan, ironically losing to both the former pair by a margin of 12 points in their only fixtures to date in November.
This window sees both Luxembourg and Azerbaijan visit Dublin’s National Basketball Arena (on February 27 and March 2), with Bree’s men likely chasing four wins from four games to secure a best runner-up spot and proceed to the next qualifying stage.
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And Bree admits the return of Fulton, who had been tied up with college commitments but is now a G League star with the Iowa Wolves, is huge for his charges. The former St Malachy’s College man last played for Ireland in a win over Luxembourg in August 2023:
“The introduction of obviously CJ coming back into the squad is huge for us, it gives us a lot of flexibility, a lot of security at the guard spot. Having guys back to mix in with the new guys from the previous window will be great for us.”
On his return to the green jersey, Fulton said:
“It feels good, very exciting to be back. Almost three years, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long. It’s good to be back, obviously a new coaching staff, some new players in but also I’ve played with a lot of the guys before.
“It’s always fun going back into that environment.”
Bree admits that Fulton’s stature is something that is only going to stand to Ireland as a whole, as they aim to develop for the future and build on a current world ranking of 82.
With just 30,000 registered players across all codes on the island, Basketball Ireland aim to increase membership to 42,000 by 2027, and Fulton can be a key poster boy - according to his international manager:
“Obviously CJ has done it, so if we have an example of someone who has done it, there’s a clear pathway, there’s an opportunity for someone to follow. It’s about tapping into that, making people aware that there’s a certain level of expectation, a certain level of practice that you have to get to if you want to be at a certain level.
“It’s our job to try to educate the players in the country how much more guts it takes to be really, really good, and that you’re not competing with kids in the country, you’re really competing with the global effect of the sport.”
On the adaptation the move across the water took, Fulton admits his college experience stood to him when it came to the shot at the NBA G League, but perhaps the culture shock element is overplayed:
“This is my sixth year here (USA) now after four years of college. All the differences between Americans and Irish people, they tend to be a bit more outgoing, a bit more loud!
“Confidence comes with that. I wouldn’t say I’ve had to adapt really. I’m still just myself, the same guy I came over as.
“There are some big personalities in the G League, but there’s still some big personalities back home in Belfast! It’s good for the make-up of a team, it’d be a bit boring if everyone was the same.”
Ireland men’s squad
Jordan Blount (Flexachem KCYMS), Rapolas Buivydas (Belfast Star), CJ Fulton (Iowa Wolves), Eli Brooks (Basquet Manresa, Spain), Sean Flood (unattached), Sean Fitzpatrick (UCD Marian), Ryan Leonard (Limerick Sport Eagles), Sam Alajiki (Hapoel Galil Elion, Israel), Matt Zona (Cheshire Phoenix, UK), Neal Quinn (BCM Gravelines Dunkerque, France), Adrian O’Sullivan (Ballincollig), Eoin Nelson (Energywise Ireland Neptune), James Gormley (Griifth College Éanna)
