Camp concludes, roster revealed

The London Lightning, defending BSL champs, have announced the roster they’ll open the 2024-25 season with, as training camp closes and they eye Sudbury in the season opener.

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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The season starts in two days – but the work on defending the title has already begun.

On Wednesday, the London Lightning closed training camp and now turn their attention to the season opener against the Sudbury Five in the Nickle City on Saturday night. That’s not much time for Lightning head coach Jerry Williams to organize his refreshed roster, but if camp intensity is an indication, he likes what he sees early on.

“These guys are competitive. They hate to lose. That’s the London way – they don’t like to lose at all,” Williams said. “When you have got guys like (Lightning guard) Chris Jones and (Lightning forward) Billy White, guys who’ve won a lot of basketball games in this league, and I put them against each other on different teams in practice, it’s a war. Not in a bad way. In a good way.”

This wasn’t a cattle-call camp, one where a team brings in 20 or 30 guys to compete. Williams had around 15 players in camp, including both recent draft picks guaranteed a tryout. That meant a fine line between making the team and not.

“We were selective in who we wanted to bring in, and I wanted to take my time and really look at the guys instead of having 30 or 40 guys in the gym getting in the way,” Williams said. “When you only have a handful of guys in there, you get to study them and see exactly what they can do, what they can’t do.”

He continued, “It came down to numbers. Who fits better with whom? I cut some good players. The league is going to notice them. They’re going to be surprised who is available. The last four guys to make this team – any one of them – could go play for anybody else in this league and probably be a starter or get a lot of minutes.”

The Lightning’s opening roster features 12 players:

Corey Boyd, centre, 26
Alex Campbell, guard, 31
Tonzell Handy, forward, 28
Omega Harris, guard, 29
Nino Johnson, centre, 31
Chris Jones, guard, 30
Joel Kindred, guard, 33
Marcus Ottey, guard, 27
Paul Parks, guard, 34
Jachai Taylor, guard, 27
Billy White, forward, 35
Dexter Williams Jr., forward, 31

London Lightning head coach Jerry Williams takes in the action at training camp Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

There is no question this group can score, with a host of former MVPs and league leaders up and down the roster, but Williams was pleased with what he saw from them on the other end of the court, as well.

“I was surprised about how well the guys were playing defense and wanted to get stops. That’s the main thing for me. I know we’re going to be able to score, but other teams are too. So, we are going to have to do both. We can’t be one dimensional. We have to be good at both.”

With only two days of practice with his team before the opener, Williams is embracing the roster’s biggest advantage – its veteran leadership. Currently, the team’s average age is 30.1 years.

“What’s on my side is that four or five of these guys were here last year. That’s a plus. They understand their roles because they’ve been through it,” Williams said.

“For example, me and Chris Jones, we’re on a mission right now. We’re seeing eye-to-eye on a lot of different things. We talk a lot about plays. He’s my point guard. We must have an open relationship with each other. It’s not always going to be nice. It’s not always going to be good. Sometimes, it’s going to be hard. But at the end of the day, he’s my point guard, my quarterback, and we must be on the same page in order for this thing to work.

“He has he has the desire to win. That kid does not want to lose in anything.”

Early in the season, Williams will be laser-focused on the intangibles that set the tone toward defending their championship.

“I want to see the attitude the guys are approaching the game with. Actually, I’m going to start looking at practice on Thursday. We’re heading into the first game of the season and coming back off winning the championship. Guys gotta be focused. That’s one of the main things I’m going to pay attention to early on. How focused are these guys? Who’s all in? Who’s ready to go play? Who’s just going through the motions? Those things count.”