Joel Bailey reflects on senior national basketball debut

The 23-year-old point guard who is still in college in the United States was among a group a players quickly drafted by the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA) after it accepted an invitation at short notice to play in the competition.

Jamaica failed to advance to the next round of the qualifiers after finishing fourth in the five-team tournament. The intense and high-pressure competition was played in five days with Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the host country advancing ahead of the Jamaicans and Guyana. 

After jetting back home to New York, Bailey tells Old Harbour News of his awe-inspired experience competing with seasoned professionals.

“The experience playing for my country at the highest level was really, really exciting,” the Old Harbour born athlete in an exclusive interview. “Growing up as a kid it’s something I always dreamt of. So when I had this opportunity to play for my national team it was a blessing. I’m really thankful for the experience that I could go out there to represent my country, it’s been something that I have been waiting for a while and to see the national association is starting to put back basketball where it belongs is a great feeling and I’m excited.”

A prodigious talent spotted by coaches before he was 12 years old, representing Marlie Mount Primary and then later Old Harbour High schools, it is no surprise the Nyack College student has been given an early bow at the senior level.

In a successful college season with the Warriors in Division II, Bailey was named to the 2020-2021 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) All-Conference Basketball for the second consecutive season, in addition to making the All-District for the East Region. The Warriors star player averaged 15 points and 4.1 assists per game before being summoned by his country to the senior set-up.

As one who is accustomed to playing against more experienced players, Bailey did not shy away from the challenge that came with a higher degree of difficulty. At the end of the tournament in which he accumulated 85 minutes of game time, Bailey averaged 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists, which placed him third in the overall rankings for assists.

He said playing in such a high-stakes tournament overseas where the language is different was another experience he will take with them as he sets sight on going pro.

“Being around professional athletes, see how they carry themselves, see how positive they remain during wins, during losses… just trying to soak up as much as I can watching and learning,” said Bailey after getting the chance to rub shoulders with elite NBA G-League players in fellow countrymen Omari Johnson and Kevin Foster. Johnson represented the Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers while Foster played for the Orlando Magic.

Though it was a weakened 12-member squad assembly, given the circumstances at the time, Bailey said he learned a lot just being around players more experienced that him, gaining insights into the inner workings of player contracts and agents.

He added that he has been taking note of what it takes to become a pro athlete, “like how to properly take care of the body through proper nutrition” formed part of many discussions with senior players during their down time.

He was full of praise for the national governing body, as they were in a race against time. 

“JaBA did a phenomenal job of putting a team together to represent the country,” said Bailey. “A lot of people don’t know the inside stuff of what they went through, so all this could be possible for the country and for us as players to be able to go out there to represent the country. It was a lot to deal with in a short period of time to play international basketball.”

And as for his own game during the competition, Bailey said: “I think did a solid job” but “without a doubt it was one of my best experiences of playing basketball all my life so far.”

While national team coach Rick Turner expressed disappointment in not qualifying to the next round, Bailey said the fact that the players never played with each other before they did their best “based on the time period that we got and what we did during that time period”.

And having had to play in a bubble back in the US, Bailey also applauded the tournament organisers in El Salvador as the event was played in a control environment.