The Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Thursday that they have signed Aaron Best. The six-foot-four guard recently played in the Polish Basketball League with the Trefl Sopot where he averaged 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 28.2 minutes per game through 45 games. The Scarborough native will have a home court advantage for his second CEBL season. In 2022, Best won a CEBL championship with the Honey Badgers where he averaged 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists over 26.6 minutes per game through five games. Best played five seasons in Toronto at TMU where he posted a career average of 14.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 29.3 minutes over 114 collegiate games. He made his pro debut in 2016 with BC Juventus of the Lithuanian Basketball League, and has eight years of professional experience playing in over five different leagues. Competing in 30 games with the Canadian National team since 2015, Best also brings both FIBA WorldCup and AmeriCup experience. Best joins the Shooting Stars just over half-way through their 2024 season. Scarborough is currently 6-6 with eight games remaining including six games at home. They are back on the road at the SaskTel Centre this Friday July 5 where they tip-off against the Saskatchewan Rattlers. The team hosts the Niagara River Lions at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre on Tuesday July 9. For more information on the team, tickets and schedule visit scarboroughshootingstars.ca About the CEBL A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN , TSN+ , RDS , Game+ , Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891 . More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , LinkedIn , Facebook & YouTube . ### Media Contact Maria Suriani Director, Communications [email protected]

Devoe Joseph is typically eager to exit the building after games. Now, it’s June 21 — his 35 th birthday, and the Scarborough Shooting Stars guard has already been held up by media responsibilities following a resounding victory over the Brampton Honey Badgers. Finally, he’s able to leave the locker-room area, traverse back across the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre court, climb up the stands and open the door onto the concourse level. He’s greeted by a group of around 25 family and friends, including his dad and CEBL championship-winning assistant coach David, his mom Connie, his sisters Chantal and Danielle and his brother, 2014 NBA Champion and ex-Raptor, Cory. They immediately burst into song. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy biiiiiirthday dear Devoeeee, happy birthday to you.” David hits Devoe with a couple celebratory pats on the back as the group cheers. For the first time in his long and winding professional basketball career, Devoe, the Pickering, Ont., native, is playing near home. Other stops on his journey have included – deep breath now – Turkey, Montenegro, Israel, Greece, Finland, Poland, Romania, Kosovo and Mongolia. “Sometimes you just wake up and you feel blessed that you got to play basketball for so long, you had a healthy career — knock on wood — and then you get to see all these places and meet all these amazing people,” Devoe said. “And then now, coming back to Scarborough, it's like full circle, right? This is where it started. … And even while I was playing professionally, I never really imagined playing at Scarborough. I can't tell you how happy I am for this opportunity.” Amid all the movement, there’s been one constant: family. While the Joseph brothers count Pickering as their hometown, they were both born at Scarborough’s Centenary Hospital. Now, they’re reunited in the area. Cory said he’s coming to as many games as possible, and he even drove out to Niagara to see Devoe play. David has attended every single game Devoe’s played in the Eastern time zone. “When you have kids, you've got to back them up first of all, and then when they're doing what they love, you can back them up even more,” said David, who along with Connie trained Devoe and Cory from a young age. “I obviously love basketball too — I shouldn't say I. My whole family loves basketball. All his friends love basketball. All the friends are just like family.” In many ways, Devoe paved the way for Cory to succeed in the NBA. Cory, two years younger, was able to learn from everything Devoe did, good and bad. In high school, they played on the Pickering High team together and won back-to-back championships together. Devoe’s game-winning shot in one of them has become lore. “Just electric. We were down one, we called timeout. The whole gym was packed,” David, who was the team’s coach, recalled. “Drake was there, I mean everybody was there. [Devoe] says, I got this, I got this. We all knew he got it. And then he came out, hit the game winner, and everything else is history.” Cory said Devoe’s attitude from playing together in high school stuck with him throughout his pro career. “He’s got that killer mentality. So I mean, people knew when they see Pickering, it was Devoe, and then it was me on the defensive end and offence as well, but Devoe was a straight killer on that offensive end. And it was just so much fun,” Cory said. Cory went on from Pickering High to play NCAA Division I college basketball at Texas before being drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, where he won the 2014 title, and spending time with the Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings, Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors. The high-profile success meant Devoe soon started becoming better known as Cory’s brother – a joke Devoe even made at Cory’s wedding last summer. “It was all fun and games. I never mind being called his brother,” Devoe said. “We get associated with each other a lot. Joseph brothers, they put us in categories, but having my family at the game, having my brother at the game, who most times when I'm not playing in the summer time, we're in two different places all the way across the world. So having these people at the game to get to see me play, it means everything to me.” Still, Cory remains the typical younger brother. His face lights up when asked about his first time beating Devoe one-on-one. “A lot of excitement. I'll beat up on him now,” Cory said with a grin, “but he would beat up on me and I got a lot of my toughness and my grit and that dog [in me] from him beating up on me at a young age. That's why I learned that defensive mentality because he was a hell of a scorer and a player.” Devoe, who in his first season in the CEBL is averaging 8.6 points per game, said he considered coming to the league earlier in his career but was tied up with his wedding two summers ago and Cory’s last year. He’s been impressed with his first taste of CEBL action. “As long as I have free time, I would love to keep playing in this league,” Devoe said. There’s just one more thing to tick off his career-long checklist – an on-court reunion with Cory. “That's kind of what we talked about, you know? Like at the end of our career, playing one more time before we finish. I think that would mean a lot,” Devoe said. In this moment, Devoe is trying to help the Shooting Stars win their second straight championship – something that would be a definite high on his self-proclaimed “roller-coaster” career. “When you're young, when you're going through the roller-coaster, it can be emotional. But then as you get older, you kind of get the appreciation for the roller-coaster,” he said. “You know that, OK, there's tough times, but good times are to come. And even when there's good times, I'm sure there's going to be a tough situation to come. And you just embrace it and just keep going with it.” For Devoe Joseph and family, these certainly seem like the good times.

The Brampton Honey Badgers (4-8) are hoping that the third time is the charm against the Scarborough Shooting Stars (6-5) this afternoon at 4 p.m. ET at CAA Centre. The game will be available to stream on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor , TSN+, the CEBL mobile app available for iOS and Android devices. It will also be broadcast live on Game+ in Canada and on Next Level Sports & Entertainment in the United States. Although the CEBL season has just crossed the halfway mark, Scarborough and Brampton have already met twice this year. Both games went to the Shooting Stars, who knocked off the Honey Badgers by eight points in Brampton on June 9 before earning a 13-point home victory roughly two weeks later. Tevian Jones, who scored a combined 32 points in both victories over the Honey Badgers, has been one of Scarborough’s most efficient scorers this season. The former New Orleans Pelican is averaging a team-high 16.9 points per game in his first season as a Shooting Star. Alongside Jones, the reigning CEBL Canadian Player of the Year, Kadre Gray, sits third in the league in assists (6.5) and is putting up just over 11 points per game. The Shooting Stars also reinforced their backcourt since their last meeting with Brampton, welcoming back Cat Barber earlier this month. He’s averaged close to 20 points in his first three games with Scarborough this year — including a 26 point, three steal game his last time out on Thursday, a 102-80 loss at the hands of the Ottawa BlackJacks. On the opposite site, Brampton comes into today’s contest fresh off a comeback victory over the Montréal Alliance on Friday night, marking their second win in the past three games — both victories against the Alliance. And with a pair of fresh faces on the roster. Prior to the victory on Friday, the Honey Badgers added a pair of veteran guards: Michael Okafor and Elijah Mitrou-Long. Mitrou-Long, a former Niagara River Lion, came just shy of notching a double-double off the bench — 11 points and eight rebounds — in his first outing as a Honey Badger. Okafor was inserted into the starting lineup and provided six points and a team-high plus-12 rating while he was on the floor. But it was someone who’s been around all year that clinched Brampton’s fourth victory of the year. Shamiel Stevenson, averaging a hair over 17 points per game on 50 per cent shooting from the field, knocked down a stepback three pointer to complete the Honey Badgers’ rally back from a 12-point halftime deficit. “I just fed off the energy of my teammates, and the rest is history,” Stevenson said after the game. Scarborough, who lead the CEBL in assists per game (22.5) and rank second in points (92.3), hold the edge over Brampton in many offensive categories. By comparison, the Honey Badgers slot last in the league in assists (16.3) and points (81.5) per game. But both teams sit near the bottom of the league in rebounding, and despite having proficient guards on both rosters, the ability to control the glass may determine the outcome of this game. Scarborough hauls in roughly 35 boards per game as a team — barely surpassing the league-low 33.5 rebounds that Brampton averages. However, Scarborough held a decisive advantage on the glass in their previous meeting with the Honey Badgers, which managed to be the difference. The Shooting Stars outrebounded the Honey Badgers 42-32, converting those boards into 22 second chance points. Brampton, meanwhile, scored only seven second chance points in the loss. And their top rebounder on the night was Prince Oduro, who had an impressive 16 point, eight rebound performance off the bench. After tonight’s game, Scarborough will travel to Saskatchewan on Friday for the last of a three-game roadtrip. Brampton is slated to have a couple days off before hosting the Calgary Surge on Wednesday. These two teams will meet for the fourth and final time in Scarborough on July 20. - CEBL - About the CEBL A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN , TSN+ , RDS , Game+ , Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891 . More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , LinkedIn , Facebook & YouTube .

The Scarborough Shooting Stars (6-4) head east to visit the Ottawa BlackJacks (2-7) for their second of three regular season matchups on Thursday night. Live coverage from The Arena at TD Place begins at 7:30 p.m. ET, available on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor , TSN+, and on the CEBL mobile app available for iOS and Android devices. After meeting two weeks prior, things have gone in opposite directions for both squads. Scarborough picked up a 15-point win against Ottawa on Jul. 13, and since then, have gone 2-1 and remain half-a-game behind Niagara for top spot in the East. Meanwhile, the BlackJacks have gone 1-2 and sit at the bottom of the conference. The Shooting Stars have been a model of consistency so far, going an identical 3-2 through the first two quarters of the year. They do, however, enter Thursday with a bit of momentum to start their three-game road trip, having won back-to-back games that coincided with the return of their top-scorer from last season. Cat Barber made his season debut for the defending champs on Friday, helping Scarborough pick up a 13-point win over Brampton. He and the Shooting Stars followed that up with a 92-84 win over the Alliance on Sunday, and through two games Barber is averaging 16 points and 5.5 assists. His efficiency rates haven’t been the sharpest, shooting 42.9 per cent from the field and 33.3 per cent from distance but the guard’s castmates have more than handled things while he’s brushed off the rust. Against the Honey Badgers, Donovan Williams stuffed the stat sheet with 28 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. And in their most-recent game against the Alliance, it was Tevian Jones who did most of the damage, finishing with a 29-point, 12-rebound double-double to go with four steals. Thanks to said standout performances, the pair of wings now lead the Shooting Stars in average scoring per game. And when you include microwave scorers Jackson Rowe and Kadre Gray and take into account head coach Devan Blair’s movement-heavy offence, it’s no wonder Scarborough averages the most points (93.5) and assists (23.4) per game in the league. Meanwhile, Ottawa is hoping to turn a page as they return to TD Place for a three-game stand in front of a home crowd. It’s been tough sledding for the BlackJacks as their previous three games were against the top three records in the CEBL. And after it felt like they were trending in the right direction with a four-point loss to the River Lions and then an even tighter 92-91 defeat against the Stingers, all momentum halted against Vancouver. The BlackJacks suffered a 37-point loss to the Bandits in a game they never led in the second-largest defeat any CEBL team has suffered this season. And to add insult to injury (or rather, injury to insult), Brandon Sampson, the team’s second-leading scorer (15 points per game) went down late in the fourth quarter and was later placed on Ottawa’s injured list. The news of Sampson’s presumed long-term absence came after the BlackJacks were already dealing with injuries to leading-scorer Isiah Moore and JaKeenan Gant. Things may seem bleak, but there’s still plenty to be optimistic about for Ottawa given the reinforcements on the way. For starters, Deng Adel is set to make his season debut against the Shooting Stars. The 2023 All-CEBL Second teamer will immediately improve a thin frontcourt and add defensive versatility the squad has lacked while giving up the second most points per game (95.7). Last year Adel averaged 17.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and a steal in 17 games with the BlackJacks. Meanwhile, Ottawa also adds a player Scarborough is very familiar with. The team signed forward Kyree Walker on Tuesday, likely slotting in for the now-injured Sampson. The champion last year with the Shooting Stars was a two-way player, impacting both ends of the floor. In 18 games with Scarborough in 2023, Walker averaged 12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals. He made two appearances with the Shooting Stars this season before moving to the Ontario rival. With nine of their final 11 games against Eastern Conference opponents, if things can break right for the BlackJacks they can easily shake up the standings. With Brampton and Montreal both at 3-8, it would take chaining together only a couple wins to jump as high as third in the East. Previous matchup In Scarborough’s 105-92 win against Ottawa earlier this season, it was their focus on ball-movement and perimeter play that made the difference. The Shooting Stars racked up 31 assists (+12) as they knocked down a season-high 20 threes (+13) on a hyper-efficient 44 per cent clip. Six different players hit at least two threes, with Jones leading the way as he went 5-for-7 from downtown en route to 23 points. - CEBL – About the CEBL A league created by Canadians for Canadians with a mission to develop Canadian players, coaches, sports executives, and referees, the CEBL boasts the highest percentage of Canadian players of any pro league in the country with 75% of its rosters being Canadian and a record 10 players with NBA experience in 2024. Players also bring experience from the NBA G League, top international pro leagues, the Canadian National team program, NCAA programs, as well as U SPORTS and CCAA. Fourteen players have signed NBA contracts following a CEBL season, and numerous CEBL players attend NBA G League training camps every year. The CEBL season runs from May through August with games broadcast live on CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, TSN , TSN+ , RDS , Game+ , Next Level Sports & Entertainment and Courtside1891 . More information about the CEBL is available at CEBL.ca and @cebleague on Instagram , Twitter , TikTok , LinkedIn , Facebook & YouTube .

CEBL teams have played 20-game schedule since league’s inception in 2019