All About the Super League All-Rookie Team
The inaugural Basketball Super League proved a good year for new talent joining the professional ranks, with rookie players stepping up and making a name for themselves in Canada and helping to see their teams to success in 2024. Here is a rundown of the five players selected by the league for their efforts throughout the season.
Demetrius "Dee" Barnes
KW Titans
1m92
Guard
From Calloway, Maryland
Barnes began his professional career finishing on double digits in his first ten games for the Titans. This went on for the season's remainder, going just seven games without reaching double digits. On March 17th he put up a season-high 26 points on 56% field shooting against the London Lightning.
He finished the season in the league's top ten three-point shooters, offensive rebounders and shot blockers. The impact he made in both his first season and in limited minutes earned him Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year honours.
This comes after Barnes graduated from Great Mills High School in Maryland, he played 27 games with six starts in his freshman season with the Mount Saint Mary Mountaineers. His first NCAA season saw him score a season-high 26 against the St. John Red Storm.
After eight more games as a sophomore, he transferred to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, where he played 24 games a junior and 37 as a senior. In his fourth year he was second on the team for three-point percentage and was Western Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the year.
Shanwdarius Cowart
Newfoundland Rogues
1.87 m
Guard
From Pensacola, Florida
Cowart spent senior year at Pensacola High School in Florida, then joined the Pensacola State Pirates in the NJCAA. With 11.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game to his name, he joined up with the Hofstra Pride in New York. He ended his NCAA career with the Grambling State Tigers, with whom he averaged 9.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in two seasons and was a member of the 2023 All-SWAC Team.
In his first pro season with the Rogues, he posted 17 points in his first game and scored in double digits for the next eight games in a row. He posted four twenty-point games and had a season-high 30 vs Sudbury Five on April 21. He finished the season on 11.1ppg, the second highest rookie average behind Barnes.
Lewis Djonkam
Newfoundland Rogues
2.05m
Forward
From Springfield, Virginia
Djonkam has made use of his height from a young age, where he was team MVP of West Springfield high school and played at Hargrave Military Academy as a senior. He graduated to play twenty games for the VCU Rams, then became a starter for the Radford Highlanders, where he averaged 8.8 points on 58.8% shooting and 4.7 rebounds as a junior.
After his senior year he played his graduate season with the Morgan State Bears, averaging 8.0 points in thirty games. Joining the professional ranks after that, he scored in double digits his first two games wit the Newfoundland Rogues and had sixteen more double digit games on the season, including a season-high 19 against the Reading Rebels and a double-double - 14 points and 11 rebounds - against Montreal in February.
Montrell Jacobs
Windsor Express
1.91m
Guard
From Milwaukee, Wisconsin
After beginning his collegiate career with the RIverside Tigers in the CCCAA, Jacobs joined the Kentucky State Thorobreds in his junior year. He served as the starting guard and averaged 16.2 points in 22 games his first year and 15.5 as a senior on 42% shooting. As a member of the Windsor Express, he averaged 3.0 points a game and scored a season-high 19 in a 144-109 win over the Pontiac Pharaohs on March 16th.
Rashad Smith
London Lightning
1.93m
Guard
From London Lightning
At Hamilton High School he had a career averaged of 11.4 points per game, which earned him a place on the Pima Aztecs in Arizona. Smith had 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists as a freshman and career averages of 18.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists and was winner of the 2019 NJCAA D1 Championship.
He then played a season with the Grand Canyon Antelopes, which ended with him winning the WAC Tournament and making the NCAA D1 Championship, but lost in the first round to the Northern Iowa Panthers. He then joined the Iowa Vandals, making 26 starts as a junior and averaging 10.1 points per game and the second-best rebounder. His senior year he was the team leader in steals and third for rebounds.
In the Super League, Smith flourished from three-point territory, ranking in the top ten for three-point percentage, as well as averaging 6.8 points on 43% field shooting in thirty games. His rookie season highlights included 21 points off the bench against Montreal on January 11th, a total he beat a month later with 37 against Sudbury.
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