By Paul Thompson
Back in 2011, Devin Daly bested the future NBA number 1 draft pick, Karl Anthony Towns
Beginning in 2008, a new executive committee of the Belize Basketball Federation developed new strategic plans which placed tremendous focus on the development of basketball at all age levels, with particular emphasis on youth development.
Most may recall the Belize Men’s National team’s great success in 2009 at the COCABA tournament in Cancun and participation in Centro Basket for Men in 2010 as early manifestations of those strategic objectives. But what many may not remember is that a few days later in 2010 , the Under 15 (U15) Boys National team was participating in the COCABA U15 championship in Guatemala under the tutelage of Youth National Team Coaches, Matthew Smiling and Fred Gabourel.
Like their more senior Men’s team counterparts, that U15 National team won silver medal at this tournament and qualified Belize to participate in the U16 Centro Basket to be held in Mexico City in 2011.
That same year in 2011, the BBF sought to assemble an Under 17 national team to participate in the COCABA U 17 tournament and centered that team around a rising young superstar from St. John’s College, Devin Daly. Devin had also been participating in local youth tournaments organized by the BBF and had established himself as one of the best players in the country in his age group. Although the BBF and the youth national team coaching staff were in preparation for the Centro Basket U16 in Mexico, giving Devin a chance to take his talents to the international arena was the right thing to do.
If you ever get to meet Devin, you will find an optimistic young man with an incredibly powerful spirit. Devin Daly led the U 17 National team along with the core of the U 16 team, which featured Brian “Beso” White and Tariq Middleton. Devin Daly was unstoppable in this tournament and displayed great versatility on the court. He was Belize’s version of Charles Barkley doing whatever it took to improve his team’s chances of winning. Belize won yet another silver medal at that COCABA U 17 tournament in Costa Rica losing to Mexico in the championship game. This outcome qualified us for the U 17 Centro basket in August of 2011.
At the U17 Centro basket and against tough competition, Belize did not qualify for the playoffs but had to play the Dominican Republic in the 5th place game. On the Dominican Republic team, most of the players were from mainland USA and their average height was 6’6”. On this team, a young Karl Anthony Towns , future NBA Number 1 draft pick and current star for the Minnesota Timberwolves, was their marquee player. Both teams played man defense for the entire game and Devin Daly was matched against Karl Anthony Towns for the entire game.
Devin Daly went to work scoring 34 points, grabbing 12 rebounds while Karl Towns had 28 points and 8 rebounds. (See box score) http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/game/p/gid/A/grid/18/rid/8655/sid/8441/_/2011_Centrobasket_U17_Championship_for_Men/statistic.html
Belize had great individual performances from Devin Daly, Tariq Middleton and Brian White at this tournament. Devin Daly was the tournament’s second leading scorer at 24.4 points per game and Tariq Middleton was the third leading scorer at 21.4 points per game. Devin Daly was also second in rebound averaging 12.4 per game while Brian White was third with 11.4 rebounds per game. Tariq Middleton was the steals leader with 4.6 take aways per game.( See link below) http://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/statistics/p/gid/A/grid/18/rid/8655/sid/8441/_/2011_Centrobasket_U17_Championship_for_Men/player-leaders.html
Devin Daly had clearly established himself as one of the best basketball talents in this region for his age and impressed many international scouts who were present at this tournament.
It was no surprise then that a year later and in his final year at SJC in 2012, Devin Daly was recruited by Lake Superior State University (LSSU) in Michigan and has now graduated with a degree in marine biology. He is currently playing professionally in Denmark. He recently returned home and was named the MVP of the finals in the 2017 NEBL championship leading the Belmopan Bandits to their first NEBL Championship. Respect.