SPORTS SECTION E
Wednesday, November 26, 2025
Bahamas at home for 1st leg of FIBA World Cup qualifier
By BRENT STUBBS Chief Sports Editor bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
WITH the success of the women's national basketball team on the road last week, the Bahamas Basketball Federation is hoping for the men's national team to excel at home in the first leg of the FIBA Americas World Cup qualifier. The team, coached by Moses Johnson, will host Canada in the homeand-away match-up 7pm on Friday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. Both teams will then travel to Toronto, Canada, for the next game on Monday, December 1. The remaining games in the World Cup will be spread over the months of February with Puerto Rico and Jamaica and in June, they will complete the window against these same teams. The top three teams from the pool play will advance in the World Cup qualifier for another set of home-and-away matches before the winner moves on to the World Cup. Named to the team are Kai Jones, Eric Isiah Mobley, Travis Munnings, Kentwan Smith, Dominic Bridgewater, Jaraun 'Kino' Burrows, Franco Miller Jr, Garvin Clarke Jr, Edril Martinborough Jr, Samuel Hunter, Rashad Davis and Zane Knowles. The team's assistant coaches are Mitchell
BBF president Eugene Horton, player Rashad Davis, Ministry of Sports’ assistant director Kerry Baker, coach Moses Johnson, BBF executive Derek S and Jaraun Burrows. Thompson and Arthur Stevenson and Rodney Wilson from Grand Bahama is back as the team manager. The physio-therapist is Henry Parks. "My expectations is for us to win. We don't go into any battle looking to lose," Johnson said. "I think this team has great make-up. The only good thing about this team is that we have been able to bring home the core of this team consistently over the past few years and it's building the programme. "They already have the synergy. We may add one or two here or there, like we are doing with Martinborough. He is not new to basketball because he is playing overseas, so that makes us much stronger." As the veteran on the team, Burrows said he's
thankful that the federation can still give him a call to come out and play for Team Bahamas, even though he can't jump like he used to, but he can still bang some players around. "We feel we have a very good team to go out there and play," Burrows said. "We just want to encourage the Bahamian people to come out and cheer us on. We think we will do very well in this window." Davis, who just returned home on Monday from playing in France, said players like Jones and Munnings, as well as Mobley, will be called upon to lead the charge for Team Bahamas. "Franco doesn't have to guard the best defender, Dominic doesn't have to guard the best defender. Coach can rotate a lot of
players to do that," Davis said. "The chemistry is different. There's no egos. Everyone plays on separate teams. Everyone knows what they have to do. Once we get together and put our egos aside, we go out there with one common goal and that is to represent the country." Davis said there's nothing like playing at home in front of the crowd and hearing the rhythmic sounds of the junkanoo music. So he's encouraging the Bahamian public to come out and support the team. In France, Davis said his team is doing pretty good, despite the fact that they lost a player to injury and he has already been replaced. He said he's also looking forward to playing against one of his team-mates from
Jamaica in the next window. "I'm doing what I always do, which is play basketball and have some fun," Davis pointed out. "I take pride in what I do. And coming home to play, I get to see my family and my friends. "But everyone knows that with basketball, it is a blessing to see such a small country put us on the global stage." Federation president Eugene Horton thanked the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Bahamas Olympic Committee, the National Sports Authority, Baha Mar, Island Care Foundation, Aquapure, Islandwide Cabling and Consulting Services and Vaughn L Culmer and Associates. "We encourage corporate Bahamas to
join," Horton said. "We also want to encourage the fans to get your tickets and come out and support the men's team." Interested persons can log onto bbfbasketball.com to get more information. Horton also commended his executive team for taking the federation through a difficult process as they had to find the necessary funding for all of their teams to travel this year. Kerry Baker, the deputy director of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, said as they continue to support sports in The Bahamas, they want to congratulate the federation on the inroads they are making internationally. Baker, a former basketball player, said if The Bahamas had played the Olympic qualifier at home, the men's team could have made it to Paris, France, at the 2024 Olympic Games. Now that the team is playing on their home court, he said the support is needed. "Home court matters," he said. "We were nine points away from going to the Olympics. So do not sit down as we open our perseverance of excellence. "We are asking you to come out and support the team. Bring your cowbells, bring your goatskin drums, everything. Home court matters."
Team Bahamas to compete in FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup in Mexico By BRENT STUBBS Chief Sports Editor bstubbs@tribunemedia.net THE Bahamas Basketball Federation will begin its newest international venture with the men's national team heading off today to Leon, Mexico, to compete in the FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup from November 27-30. Making up the team are captain Jackson Jacob, Qyemah Gibson, Kadeem Coleby and Dylan Musgrove. The head coach, Marvin Henfield, noted that they have all demonstrated their playing abilities in 21 games, which are structured similar to the 3x3 tournament. The Bahamas has been drawn to play out of Pool B, which includes Uruguay, Trinidad & Tobago and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Their first match will be on Thursday vs Uruguay at 10am. That will be followed by a matchup against Saint Kitts and Nevis around 11:40am before they face Trinidad & Tobago at 1:30pm. The remainder of their games will be determined by the results of the games they played against their rivals during the opening day. Henfield said he's excited to be leading the team, although FIBA 3x3 basketball competition does not allow him to sit on the bench or interact with the players during the games. He noted that he's been grooming the team for The Bahamas' inaugural international appearance and likes what he's seen in their workout sessions.
TEAM Bahamas 3-on-3 with coach Marvin Henfield, second from right. Missing is player Kadeem Coleby. "Collectively among the players, we have more than two decades of professional experience," Henfield said. "Even though this is The Bahamas' first time competing in 3x3, a number of our players have individually competed internationally. "So this is a very talented team. Also it is a very seasoned team. So I'm looking forward to making some noise in this first rodeo." According to Henfield, 3x3 is "glorified 21" because everybody who grew up in The Bahamas got to play 21, "so the 3x3 is right up our alley. "This group of guys that we have are very athletic. I also expect to see some very good shooting as well," Henfield
pointed out. "One of the things we were able to do in our practices to get in the conditioning because 3x3 is very different from 5-on-5." The game is 10 minutes long with just one television time out, so the players have to consistently play, but they are allowed to submit their one reserve at any time during the game. "What you will see from us is a lot of body movement, a lot of ball movement, a lot of on ball off court action and then again, we have some guys who can really shoot the ball. I think the half court set will really benefit us." While there's the notion that Bahamians like to jump on the bandwagon after the success is achieved, Henfield is calling on corporate Bahamas to come out now and support the BBF in its ventures to further enhance The Bahamas' level of participation at the international competition. Jacob, who will be relied upon to carry the team on the court as the captain, said he was excited when he got the call from the federation to put the team together and they added the icing on the cake with Henfield joining as the coach. "I schooled in Canada and we played it a lot there," Jacob said. "When I got the call I was very excited because I knew it was straight up basketball. We just have to go out there and get buckets and bring back the gold." With this being the first time to represent The Bahamas, Jacob said he's confident that the team will do very well. Henfield assured the public that the team is going to Mexico to bring the gold back to The Bahamas.
‘Coach Yo’ and Ole Miss off to 5-0 start By JONATHAN BURROWS Tribune Sports Reporter jburrows@tribunemedia.net
OLE Miss Lady Rebels head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, better known as “Coach Yo.”
HEAD coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, better known as “Coach Yo”, is off to an undefeated start in her eighth season at Ole Miss. The Rebels sit at 5–0 overall, 0-0 in SEC play, riding an undefeated non-conference start and holding a No. 13 ranking in both the AP and coaches' polls. Coach Yo began her tenure at Ole Miss in 2018. Over her time in Oxford, she’s compiled a 119-95 record with the Rebels, and 219-158 overall in her head-coaching career. Before Ole Miss, she turned around Jacksonville University’s women’s programme
(94–63 over five seasons) and brought them to postseason play three times. Over her eight years at Ole Miss, some of her accomplishments include four consecutive 20-win seasons (a first in the programme in this century), four straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and multiple Sweet Sixteen runs (2023, 2025). She was the first Ole Miss coach to post four consecutive seasons with at least 10 SEC wins and the second coach in programme history to surpass 100 wins at Ole Miss, reaching that mark during 2023-24. Her defensive philosophy helped set programme records last season which included most blocks in a single season, and multiple games holding
opponents under 50 points. In 2024, she was honoured with the Emerging Young Philanthropist Award by the Ole Miss Women’s Council for her community work through her nonprofit, No Ceilings with Coach Yo. Her foundation, created originally for Hurricane Dorian relief in The Bahamas, now supports educational and sports programmes for youth in Mississippi and The Bahamas. She described the work as deeply personal: “living your life without limits.” Her leadership style has long embraced faith and discipline. In a 2023 Sports Spectrum feature, she credited her faith for guiding her path and driving her to pour into her players.
At 42 years old, the Freeport native is at the helm of a top 10 college programme. Being the trailblazer that she is, McCuin was the first Bahamian woman to sign a Division I basketball-player letter of intent and the first Bahamian woman to coach at the Division I level. For this season, Coach Yo and her staff tapped the transfer portal hard. ESPN ranked Ole Miss’ incoming group as the nation’s No. 2 transfer class. At her first 2025-26 preseason practice, Coach Yo expressed confidence in the roster’s diversity of talent and personalities. She said the Rebels will be “extremely competitive” and, so far, the Rebels have lived up to that expectation.