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Canada Basketball

Marc Eversley, Humza Teherany and Bart Yabsley join Canada Basketball Board of Directors

TORONTO, Ont. (June 10, 2021) -- Canada Basketball announced Thursday several updates to its Board of Directors following the organization’s Annual General Meeting, which was held virtually on Tuesday afternoon.

Marc Eversley has been elected a Class A Director, while Humza Teherany and Bart Yabsley were nominated Class B Directors, effective immediately.

“On behalf of our Board of Directors, I’d like to welcome Marc, Humza and Bart to the Canada Basketball team,” said Brian Cooper, Chair, Canada Basketball Board of Directors.  “Each brings with them experience, expertise and a passion for the game of basketball that will undoubtedly continue to elevate our organization, both on and off the court.”

Eversley enters his second season as the general manager of the Chicago Bulls and is primarily responsible for overseeing the implementation of all elements of the basketball operations process. The Brampton, Ont. native has more than 14 years of NBA experience working for the Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers in a variety of executive leadership roles that focused on managing personnel, talent evaluation, player development and scouting. Prior to the NBA, Eversley spent five years at Nike’s world headquarters in Oregon as its NBA Player Relationship Manager, which advanced his development in managing relationships with athletes, along with team and athlete brand management. He also spent six years with Nike Canada, Canada Basketball’s longest running current partner dating back to the mid-1990s.

As Chief Technology and Digital Officer at Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Teherany brings over 20 years of experience with technology and business strategy to the Canada Basketball Board of Directors. Teherany oversees digital strategy, technology, IT, mobile apps, data science and innovation for MLSE and will provide experience and expertise for Canada Basketball as it looks for new and innovative ways to engage with players, coaches, officials and basketball fans across the country.  Prior to joining MLSE, the Scarborough, ON native also worked at Compass Group North America where he built a technology and digital strategy company called Compass Digital Labs, as well as Allstream and Bell Canada.

A lifelong basketball fan who has played and coached the game, Yabsley has turned his love for the sport into a career and is currently the President of Sportsnet.  Since 2019 when he took over the role, Yabsley has overseen Sportsnet’s multiplatform production, programming, rights acquisitions, sponsorships, distribution channels, direct-to-consumer streaming products and product innovation.  He joined Rogers Sports & Media in 2014 and has over 25 years of experience in sports, conventional and specialty television, and corporate transactions. Yabsley was instrumental in working with Canada Basketball leadership to finalize a multi-year broadcast and event partnership with a shared goal to elevate the organization's event portfolio and its content & broadcast strategy.

Scott Lake and Rob Wright were appointed Co-Vice Chairs, while Basil Kavanagh and Brian Bidulka were also both re-elected as Class A Directors. Bidulka will continue in the role of Treasurer, a position he has held since 2014.

Canada Basketball would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to Wayne Parrish and Candice Stasynec for their hard work and dedication to the organization and its Board of Directors.

“Wayne and Candice have both left a lasting impact on Canada Basketball and were instrumental in helping to grow our organization to where we are today,” Cooper said.  “Whether it was Candice’s dedication to our tremendous partnership with the City of Edmonton or the years Wayne spent as President and later Chair of the Board of Directors, both always put Canada Basketball first.”

Long-time Toronto Raptors executive, Masai Ujiri, will also transition from his current role with the Canada Basketball Board of Directors to an ex-officio role.  In recognition of his longstanding contribution to basketball in Canada, Ujiri has been named Honourary Chair of the Canada Basketball Board of Directors.  This distinguished appointment is in recognition of Ujiri’s personal and professional support of the organization and its domestic and high-performance programs as well as its business partnerships. As the Honourary Chair, he will continue to support basketball in Canada as an ambassador and advocate for growth of the game, at all levels.

The Canada Basketball Board of Directors consists of 11 members, including:

- Brian Cooper, Chair, MKTG (Chair)

- Rob Wright, President/Founding Partner, Mowbray, Wright Financial and IPC Investment Corporation (Co-Vice Chair)

- Scott Lake, Founder and CEO, Hello Ventures (Co-Vice Chair)

- Brian Bidulka, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Postmedia Network Inc. (Treasurer)

- Marc Eversley, General Manager, Chicago Bulls

- Shannon Hosford, Chief Marketing Officer, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment

- Paul Jones, Broadcaster, Sportsnet 590 The Fan & TSN 1050

- Basil Kavanagh, Associate Professor, School of Human Kinetics & Recreation, Memorial University

- Leah MacNab, Managing Director, NBA Canada

- Humza Teherany, Chief Technology and Digital Officer, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment

- Bart Yabsley, President, Sportsnet