GLOBL JAM – A New Basketball Tournament with Plenty of Players to Watch
Never heard of GLOBL JAM before? That’s okay. You may not be familiar with the tournament, but you’re sure to recognize some of the athletes competing in it.
The inaugural GLOBL JAM tournament is taking place in Toronto, Canada this week. GLOBL JAM is a FIBA-recognized U23 tournament, and on the women’s side of the event, there are teams from Belgium, France, and the United States that form a four-team pool with Canada.
While Canada, France, and Belgium have assembled U23 squads composed of top Euroleague and NCAA talent, USA Basketball has elected to send a college team, VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University), to be its representative in the tournament.
The tournament is taking place from July 5–10, and we’ve highlighted some players that you’re going to want to keep an eye on as the competition unfolds.
Shy Day-Wilson
If you happened to notice a video of Drake playing one-on-one basketball against a young hooper this summer—and losing to her—the name Shy Day-Wilson might ring a bell. If you haven’t seen that clip, but you follow NCAA basketball, you might also know her name. Day-Wilson just finished her first year at Duke University, where she led the Blue Devils in points, assists, field goals made, free throws made, and minutes this season. She capped off her incredible first season by winning the ACC Freshman of the Year award.
Most players might be content with a year like the one Day-Wilson had, but when asked how she felt about her season in an interview with NBA TV Canada, Day-Wilson ranked it an “8 out of 10” and stated that she had higher standards for herself. She went on to say that she wants to win the ACC Player of the Year award next season, and wants to help lead Duke to a deep run at the NCAA tournament.
Day-Wilson already had an impressive showing during Canada’s first game of GLOBL JAM, finishing with 18 points and leaving the floor with a plus/minus score of +21. Both Duke Blue Devils fans and Canada Basketball fans can look forward to seeing her continue to shine throughout the remainder of the competition.
Aaliyah Edwards
Aaliyah Edwards is already a household name for many UConn and Canada Basketball fans, and now she’ll be looking to leave her mark during another international basketball tournament.
Edwards just finished her sophomore season with the UConn Huskies where she played in her first NCAA tournament final. Edwards was named to the Big East All-Tournament Team and her worst-ever NCAA result was during her first year when UConn lost to Stanford in the Final Four.
In terms of international experience, Edwards made her debut with the Canadian senior national team when she was 16 years old and has since played in the 2019 and 2021 FIBA AmeriCup and the 2020 Olympics.
Edwards was the leader on the floor for Canada in their first GLOBL JAM game, finishing with a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Canada will likely continue to lean on her maturity and experience on the floor during their next several games. If Edwards’ first game is any indicator of how she’ll play for UConn and in the Women’s Basketball World Cup this upcoming Fall, both of those teams and their fans are in for a treat.
Shaina Pellington
Shaina Pellington is another Canada Basketball athlete who is entering this tournament with extensive international experience. In 2019, she was Canada’s leading scorer at the Pan Am Games in Lima, averaging 16 points per game. Pellington then went on to be Canada’s number two scorer at the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup, and was also a member of the 2020 Olympic squad.
Pellington is currently a member of the Arizona Wildcats where she finished this past season second on the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game. When the Wildcats made the National Championship game in 2021, Pellington had her best game of the season, scoring 15 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, and picking up 3 steals.
Fans can expect Pellington to put up impressive numbers during this tournament, and can look for her name on the stats leaderboard throughout the competition. Already, in Canada’s first game, Pellington put up 13 points and had a plus/minus score of +22, the second-highest of anyone in the tournament. As Arizona will be looking to find their way back into the latter stages of the NCAA tournament this upcoming season, they will need Pellington to be in top form when she returns to the States to train with her team. GLOBL JAM gives her the opportunity to do just that.
Yvonne Ejim
Yvonne Ejim has already played some solid basketball in 2022. Suiting up for her second season with Gonzaga, Ejim had two double-doubles, improved her free-throw shooting percentage by over 15%, and shot 70% from the field and 92.9% from the free-throw line during the NCAA Basketball Tournament. She was named to the WCC All-Second Team and also earned the WCC Sixth Woman of the Year award.
While Ejim hasn’t suited up for the Canadian senior women’s team in any major tournaments, GLOBL JAM might be a nice stepping stone into a higher level of international basketball for her. Ejim will likely be looking to make the move from the Gonzaga bench into the starting lineup this upcoming NCAA season, so this opportunity to compete in GLOBL JAM could prove to be very valuable for her basketball career.
Mary-Anna Asare
Mary-Anna Asare might feel a little conflicted as she suits up for the United States during the GLOBL JAM tournament. Asare just played for Canada’s U18 team at the FIBA Americas Championship where she averaged 8.5 points per game and brought home a silver medal after losing to USA Basketball in the finals. But now that VCU was chosen as the team to represent USA Basketball in the tournament, Asare has now found herself sporting a red, white, and blue jersey.
Asare had a game-high 17 points in her first game of the tournament, where team USA lost 66–44 against France. She hit 3 out of 4 of her three-point attempts.
VCU is coming off of a 2021-22 season in which they earned an at-large bid to the WNIT and reached the second round. They will be looking to return to the NCAA tournament this season after a one-year hiatus, and Asare might be the key to achieving that goal. A summer of international experience (for two different teams) should help Asare transition to D1 basketball quite nicely.
Marine Fauthoux
Marine Fauthoux is no stranger to international basketball. She represented France at the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket tournament in 2019 at the age of 18, and most recently, played for the French Olympic team that walked away from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a bronze medal. As the captain of the French U23 team, Fauthoux will be looking to continue to establish herself on the international stage.
Fauthoux currently plays for Basketball Landes in France where she averaged 12.9 points per game and helped her team to a fourth-place finish in the French league. Fauthoux was also crowned the EuroLeague Women Young Player of the Year for her accomplishments over the course of the season.
Interestingly, Fauthoux was drafted by the New York Liberty in the third round of the 2021 WNBA Draft. Fauthoux has already led France to a win during the GLOBL JAM tournament where she finished with a team-high 14 points. She could cause some scouts to consider giving her a place on a WNBA roster if she continues to perform well.
Emmanuelle Tahane
Emmanuelle Tahane is one of the only players on the French U23 squad who has played several years of NCAA D1 Basketball. Tahane split her college career between the Missouri Tigers and the Rhode Island Rams. When she was with the Rams, she made the Atlantic 10 First Team in consecutive years and was named the conference Co-Player of the Year in 2021. In her final season, she averaged 13.7 points and 8.9 rebounds and shot 55.3% from the field. The Chicago Sky took note of the impressive end to her collegiate career, and she was named to a training camp roster in April 2022.
Tahane was unable to lock down a spot on Chicago’s final roster, but she will play a key role for the French team during this tournament. During France’s first game, Tahane had the best plus/minus differential of any player in the game, finishing with +25 in just over 20 minutes of action. If Tahane continues to perform well throughout the remainder of this tournament, she might just unlock more professional basketball opportunities for herself either in Europe or in the United States.
Fans can tune into the tournament on ESPN+ if they’re in the States, or on Sportsnet if they’re in Canada.
