Jordan Blount: Strong Cork connection made this Irish basketball window extra special

There's a rich tradition of basketball in Cork, especially on the northside.

That was very evident in the recent international window with half of the Ireland squad hailing from Leeside: Jordan Blount, Kyle Hosford, David Lehane, James Hannigan, Sean Jenkins and Adrian O'Sullivan. Five of that six are northsiders, with O'Sullivan from Ballincollig.

Blount was vice-captain of the team that lost out to Switzerland before beating Azerbaijan, concluding what was a promising FIBA World Cup pre-qualifying campaign.

"Being the vice-captain, I take a lot of strength and confidence from that. I've been part of the set-up for a very long time but what made this window so special is the Cork contingent. People might laugh and say it's not that big of a deal but it's a testament to the level of basketball and determination in Cork, particularly the northside of Cork.

"We all grew up within five, 10 minutes of each other. We've stories of when we were kids going to camps together and then Adrian's parents [Francis and Grace] are from the northside.

"I just think it shows the kids that whatever your sport or domain may be there are heights you can reach. There's no reason you can't.

You've only 12 players and six of them were from Cork, five from the northside, I think that's something special and something to be very, very proud of."

Looking at the bigger picture, the 28-year-old, who lined out for Killorglin in this season's Super League, believes a strong platform is now there for Ireland.

"It's always a great pleasure to put that green jersey on. The feeling around this one was a lot of hope, a lot of ambition, a lot of pride, we felt we were in a position where we could really succeed.

"The first game didn't go according to plan at all. First quarter we were there or thereabouts, even in the second quarter we made a bit of a run. As the game went on they showed their bit of class. I think that's the difference facing a team like Switzerland, who have 12 guys playing professionally overseas, which isn't a knock on any of our guys.

"They're always progressing and have a steady wheel of players coming in. It showed where we need to get to."

JUMP

Mark Keenan's side ended the campaign on a high.

"We'd a good win over Azerbaijan. And not to be cocky but I think we've moved above countries like that. We separated ourselves back in 2020 by winning the Small Countries tournament. I think between the Euro Basket and the World Cup qualifiers we've moved up to the middle but we're not quite up there with the likes of Switzerland and Austria yet.

"In the world rankings we've jumped up again, we're at 82. I think the low 60s or high 50s is a reasonable goal for us as a basketball nation to get to."