July 1, 2009

Ali Kanaan, a senior-to-be from Montreal, QC and Beirut Lebanon, was named to the Lebanon’s National Basketball Team for the FIBA Asia Championship Aug. 6-16 in Tianjin, China.

The Championship will serve as a springboard to the 2010 World Championship in Turkey as well as the 2012 Olympics in London.

“I am thrilled for Ali to get an opportunity like this,” said UML Head Coach Greg Herenda, fresh off his first season. “To represent your country and try to qualify for the Olympics is a once in a lifetime opportunity. He will be able to use this experience to grow as a player and as a person.

“It is also tremendous that Ali is representing our program on a global level,” Herenda added. “It just shows that we have very good players who can compete at high levels.”

Prior to the FIBA Asia Championship, Lebanon is slated to play in a tournament in Doha, Qatar Wednesday through Sunday against Nigeria, Iran and the hosts. It will then travel to Taipei, Taiwan for the William Jones Cup July 18-26.

Lebanon heads Group ‘B’ in the FIBA Asia Championship and will meet Jordan, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates in the group stage.

Group ‘A’ includes South Korea, Japan, Phillipines and Sri Lanka while Group ‘B’ has Iran, Chinese Taipei, Kuwait and Uzbekistan. Group ‘C’ includes Kazakhstan, Qatar, India and China.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to represent my country and get to play at such a high level against professional players,” Kanaan said. “This experience will help me develop my game so I can be ready to have a very successful senior year at UMass Lowell.”

Kanaan posted averages of 7.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocked shots per game in the 2008-09 season. He ranked among Northeast-10 Conference leaders in blocked shots (sixth), steals (eighth) and field goal accuracy (13th, .497).

UMass Lowell returns all 12 players from the 2008-09 team which posted a 21-8 record, placed in a tie for second in the NE-10 regular season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in nine years.

Kanaan is among a handful of current UMass Lowell student-athletes and alumni to represent their countries in international competition this year. Recently, former distance runner Nate Jenkins (’04) was named to the U.S. marathon team for the IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Berlin (Aug. 15-23) while senior Ruben Sanca (Boston, MA) is expected to represent Cape Verde at the Lusophone Games in Lisbon, Portugal (July 11-18).

Additionally, five former ice hockey players played in the World Championship of Hockey in Switzerland, led by Ron Hainsey (2000-01) who led the U.S. to the semifinal; Dwayne Roloson (’04) a goalie who backstopped Canada to the silver medal; and Baptiste Amar (2001-03), Laurent Meunier (2000-02) and Yorick Treille (1998-02), each a member of the French national team.

Kanaan is the son of Anis Kanaan and Amira El-Fares of Montreal, QC and Beirut, Lebanon.

Additional links: Lebanese Basketball Federation (www.flbb.com)