Irish Basketball: CJ Fulton returns to the lineup for EuroBasket pre-qualifying games

Eoin Nelson, Sean Fitzpatrick and American-born Eli Brooks have also been included in Prey’s squad.

South Carolina-born Brooks plays for Spanish side Basket Manresa and qualifies for Ireland through his Belfast-born grandfather.

Midfielder Nelson was called into the squad ahead of the North Macedonia match but did not feature, while goalkeeper Fitzpatrick was unable to take the field against Norway last summer after an expanded 20-man squad was fielded.

There is also the return of James Gormley, who missed the matches against Luxembourg and North Macedonia, but Taiwo Badmos, Sean Jenkins and Max Amadason will miss out injured while John Carroll is out due to personal commitments.

“Eoin and James, at 6ft 8in and 7ft 7, both add size to the equation and play well for their clubs, as has Sean Fitzpatrick,” Brey added.

“It’s great to be able to bring in someone of Eli Brooks’ caliber as well, who has been playing basketball in the FIBA ​​Euro Cup with his club Basket Manresa and has experience playing in Germany and Italy as well.”

The winners of the three groups and the best second-placed team from three groups in the first round will advance to the second round of the preliminary round, where they will be joined by eight teams from the first round of the European qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup.