10 years in, All Canadian Games thriving as a high school basketball showcase

CBC

03-04-2025

The All-Canadian Basketball Games were first conceived at a California Sandwiches in Richmond Hill, Ont.
Presumably hovering over veal sandwiches, Tony McIntyre, the CEO of the premier boys basketball program Bounce Elite and father of ex-NBAer Tyler Ennis, handed John Celenza a mission: make a healthier Gatorade alternative.
Soon after, Biosteel – the pink sports drink — was created. A short time later, McIntyre and Celenza were joined by Jesse Tipping — the CEO of Athlete Institute, which is home to the storied Orangeville Prep team in Unionville, Ont. — on a snowy walk somewhere in Ontario.
It was on that journey where McIntyre, Celenza and Tipping set out to create an answer to the McDonald's All-American Game, a showcase of the top high-school basketball talent in the U.S.
And so what is now known as the Cwench All Canadian Games was born in 2015, with Jamal Murray named the event's first MVP.
Ten years later, the Games are still thriving.
"There's a higher meaning to this," said Celenza, who has since left Biosteel to start Cwench, a rival hydration drink. "Let's get kids off the iPads and into the gyms and onto the fields. And let's show them that there's something that they can aspire to because at end of the day, how cool is that?"
Indeed, the proof is in the alumni: the likes of NBA, WNBA and NCAA stars Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Thon Maker, Toby Fournier and Aaliyah Edwards have all participated in the game over the past decade.
The next iteration takes place Friday and Saturday at Humber Polytechnic in Toronto.
"The best thing about the game is it's always had the best players, right? And that's kind of what hasn't been able to be done prior to this is, how do we get all the best players to just be showcased at one time?" Tipping said.
Recently, Celenza sat with Andy O'Brien at the renowned restaurant The Bicycle Thief in Halifax. O'Brien is a hockey trainer by trade, overseeing the likes of Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. But he has also served as the main formulator for Cwench.
Celenza and O'Brien were chatting about the All Canadian Games when someone tapped them on the shoulder.
"Someone overheard us and said, 'I just want you to know that that All Canadian Games meant a lot to us out here in Nova Scotia. We had Nate Darling playing that game and we'd all get together to watch it on TV,'" Celenza recalled.
A launchpad for success
Darling, of Bedford, N.S., went on to play in the NBA with the Charlotte Hornets, but he is far from the only success story.
While players like Murray and Gilgeous-Alexander were on the radar, headed to blueblood NCAA schools and destined for the first round of the draft, someone like Dort used the Games as a launchpad for success.
"OKC really first saw Lu here right in this game. They see him practise and they start following him," Tipping said.
Tipping estimated that up to 90 per cent of NBA teams send staff for the Games, which are sanctioned by the league. He added that NBAers also Shaedon Sharpe and Dalano Banton also took off following the Games.
Even still, the vibe is more all-star game than NBA Finals.
Situated at the end of the season, with many athletes already locked into scholarships, it provides one last chance to share the court with peers that players have competed with or against throughout high school.
Tristan Beckford of Fort Erie Academy is committed to South Florida for next season, but still sounded giddy when talking about his upcoming appearance in the game.
"Just being able to connect with a few old friends and just being able to hoop with them one last time. A lot of my teammates around Fort Erie, I don't know when I'll be able to see them again," said Beckford, who backed out of an original commitment to Arkansas State in order to follow coach Bryan Hodgson to South Florida.
Beckford, whose played in the game previously, said the main idea is to have a good time, and maybe make a few connections along the way.
"It's an all-star game because everyone there probably has fun playing basketball. So I feel like it's definitely firstly to just have fun and just connect with a few people, but also just to help people get out there and help the recruiting a little bit," he said.
The Games can also provide a path to the national team as a selection of age-group coaches are typically mixed among the high-school ranks.
By the time players are ready for the senior team, the likes of Dort and Murray or Fournier and Cassandre Prosper may have already played together and built a foundation of success.
"I think now being in 10 years, people who have been following the game are able to see all these guys and girls now playing in the WNBA and the NBA and doing so well," Tipping said. "It just validates the process of what they came through."
Tipping said he seeks out the top coaches, referees and support staff to be part of the Games as a reward for their efforts throughout the year, too.
And in addition to the usual proceedings, the 2025 event will also feature a camp for Indigenous players and a skills challenge.