SALT LAKE CITY – When Oshae Brissett dons the No. 11 on Thursday night, it’s for one reason: Canada. He’s Syracuse’s third Canadian to choose that number, after Leo Rautins and Tyler Ennis. The Orange have been at the forefront of a national Canadian recruiting trend, and Brissett is just a part of the growth.

“I feel like everyone that’s come through here has done great things by Syracuse,” Brissett said. “I’m really excited to really follow in their footsteps, especially wearing number 11 and being from Canada.”

Many attribute the rise in Canadian players to Vince Carter’s career with the Toronto Raptors from 1998-2004. There were a record 133 Canadians playing Division I basketball this season, per NorthPoleHoops, up from 112 a year ago. Twenty-four of those athletes are on men’s basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament, per Canada Basketball, including four active in Salt Lake City — Syracuse’s Oshae Brissett, Baylor’s Devonte Bandoo, Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke and New Mexico State’s Clayton Henry.

“I feel like even though (Vince Carter) wasn’t Canadian, he brought a lot of excitement and showtime to Toronto with the stuff that he was able to do for us,” Brissett said. “He’s one that really brought a lot of the guys into the game, really loving the game as you started watching it.”

The Syracuse sophomore Brissett hails from Mississauga, Ontario, and is one of 10 SU players to come from Canada, including Ennis, Kris Joseph and Rautins. Brissett spent some time in high school playing in the United States, but eventually moved back to Canada and was the No. 1 recruit out of his country’s 2017 class.

Brissett frequently shouts out Michigan freshman and Canadian Ignas Brazdeikis on Twitter when the Wolverines’ lefty has a big game. Brissett’s also stolen his occasional jumper celebration – an imaginary bow and arrow — from Canadian NBA star Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets.

Thursday, Brissett will face off with Baylor guard Devonte Bandoo, a Brampton-native just like Ennis. Brissett said he knows Bandoo a bit, having gotten close to one of Bandoo’s cousins.

Devonte Bandoo, a guard for Baylor, knows Oshae Brissett from their Canadian roots. Courtesy of Baylor Athletics

Awaiting Syracuse in a second-round meeting will most likely be one-seed Gonzaga, which also features a Canadian as one of its stars: Vancouver native Brandon Clarke. While Clarke and his family moved to Phoenix by the time he was four, he still deeply identifies with his Canadian background.

“Obviously when you’re from Canada, basketball isn’t really the first sport, or the second sport really,” Clarke said. “Maybe like third or fourth sport. Obviously it’s something to be proud of if you play basketball and you’re from Canada.”

Clarke isn’t the first Gonzaga player to call Canada home, joining Kelly Olynyk and Kevin Pangos, two program greats. Bulldogs’ head coach Mark Few is known for bringing in non-U.S. born players to stock the roster.

But Few feels like the Canadian players are different from overseas recruits. They’ve been inundated in what some might call American basketball culture from an early age, especially through the AAU scene.

“(Canadians) are involved in our AAU system as much as (U.S.) guys are,” Few said. “So, they’re definitely well immersed in our system.”

If the top seeds win in the Salt Lake’s West Region first round, Brissett will face a fellow Canadian two days in a row. He and Syracuse have already played a number of them this season.

In nonconference play, St. Bonaventure featured Jalen Poyser. When Brissett came out of the SU tunnel about an hour before tip, he found Poyser and gave him a hug. Then in the ACC, Syracuse has faced off with Duke star R.J. Barrett, Virginia Tech star Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Florida State sixth man Mfiondu Kabengele, who are all expected to be NBA players very soon.

Oshae Brissett and RJ Barrett played each other in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

“Just knowing that everyone at home is really looking up to myself, R.J., Nickeil, (Brazdeikis),” Brissett said, “seeing we’re able to do it and I feel like it gives them the confidence as well to stay in the gym, stay in school and keep doing the things we’re doing.”

The Orange will feature another Canadian next year in incoming freshman Quincy Guerrier. Unlike most of the NCAA’s Canadians, Guerrier comes from French Canada in Montreal. Fittingly, he’ll be the 11th Canadian to play at Syracuse. But if Brissett stays, the forward will probably still wear the No. 11 to hearken back to his roots.

And before games next year in the Carrier Dome, just as this year and last, Brissett’s introduction as a starter will have a semblance of home. Each time his name is announced over the public-address system, the student section sings to the tune of his national anthem, “Oh Ca-na-da!” Each time, Brissett feels proud.

“Every time I step on the court that’s what I’m repping, my country,” Brissett said. “… So I just go out there every day, every night, trying to better myself and just rep the country.”

Published on March 20, 2019 at 8:20 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3