Grant becomes first Humber player drafted in CEBL
With files from the Ottawa BlackJacks
The Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), Canada's largest professional sports league, announced April 10th its three selections from the 2025 CEBL Draft.
Every Canadian post-secondary student-athlete playing in Canada was eligible to be drafted into the league in what is a coveted opportunity for top Canadian post-secondary student-athletes to experience professional basketball.
Round 3, Pick 24: Malik Grant, Forward, Humber Polytechnic
His selection sees him become the first collegiate player chosen by the BlackJacks in CEBL Draft history following a season in which he became the third student-athlete in Humber Hawks (OCAA) history to be named OCAA Player of the Year and the 16th to garner CCAA All-Canadian Honours. A 6'6" native of Brampton, Ont., he was recognized as the CCAA Championship MVP after averaging 16.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per-game as Humber claimed the national title. Beginning his collegiate career with Kilgore Junior College in 2020-21, he transferred to the University of New Brunswick (AUS) in 2022-23 and sat fourth in the conference in assists (75) while starting each of the 20 games in which he appeared.
"Our 2025 draft class is a very talented and versatile group of players who have all proven their ability to compete and contribute at a high level in U SPORTS and the CCAA," said BlackJacks general manager James Derouin. "We are very confident that this group will add to a strong track record the BlackJacks have of developing Canadian talent. Former Development Players such as Lloyd Pandi and Keevan Veinot have been an important part of our recent success and we believe that this year's draft class will continue that trend. We're very happy to welcome Justin, Alvin and Malik to our team and can't wait to see them this summer as they continue to develop both on and off the court as young professionals."
The BlackJacks three selections in the 2025 CEBL Draft represent over 200 games of collegiate experience with action across the NCAA, U SPORTS and CCAA with five total national championship medals between them. Each student-athlete averaged at least 14.5 points per-game for their respective clubs this season to rank in the top 20 among scorers in each of their conferences.
