New York University Lions men's basketball head coach Nate Philippe introduced the eight student-athletes who make up his first recruiting class with the Lions program.
 
After being hired in June, Philippe quickly went to work on recruiting and has assembled a talented class with experience playing in Canada and the United States. The group includes guards Josiah Riley, Chevon Brown, DeShawn Montaque, Prince Kamunga and MJ Forbes, as well as forwards Kenrick Hudson, Sukhjot Kalsi and Christian D'Alessandro.
 
"I am extremely excited about my first recruiting class at York and all our 2017 recruits," said Philippe. "With this group of recruits, we are bringing in immediate impact guys that I believe will be huge parts of our future success. They have experienced high-level basketball in both Canada and the U.S., they are coachable, have high character and are competitive. These young men will mesh very well with our returning group of players, and I am very excited about their potential. Our goal is to build York men's basketball into an elite program nationally. I feel that this recruiting class will help us build in that direction and will be major keys to our future success."
 
Riley, Brown, Hudson and Montaque all join the Lions after heading south to pursue their basketball careers at institutions in the United States. Riley is a Brampton, Ont., native who most recently played for the New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds. Before heading south he suited up for Orangeville Prep in high school and was also part of the CIA Bounce AAU program. In 2011 he was a member of the Ontario team that won the U15 provincial championship.
 
Brown, of Toronto, and Hudson, from Brampton, Ont., come to York together after previously being teammates with the Grassroots Canada AAU squad and the ASA College Avengers in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Brown earned a first-team all region award. He also helped his high school team, Richview Collegiate, win the bronze medal at the OFSAA championships.
 
Hudson, meanwhile, went to St. Thomas Aquinas and helped the team win the ROPSAA Tier 2 championship before moving to Arizona and playing at Faith Christian School, where they reached the division title game. He then spent one season with the College of Southern Idaho Golden Eagles before heading to ASA.
 
Montaque was also a member of the Grassroots AAU program. The Toronto native attended Archbishop Romero Secondary School, where he won team MVP awards as a junior and senior and helped the program win a city championship. Most recently, he played for the Western Nebraska Community College Cougars.
 
Kamunga, Forbes, D'Alessandro and Kalsi are local products who recently graduated from high school and will also be suiting up for the Lions this fall. Kamunga, from Toronto, starred at College Francais. He was a top three scorer in the GTA in grade 11 and, the year before, helped his team win a TDSB regional championship.
 
Forbes, from Brampton, Ont., attended Nantyr Shores in Innisfil, Ont., and put together a tremendous basketball resume that included leading Simcoe County in scoring and earning MVP and all-star honours. He was also on the CIA Bounce AAU team.
 
D'Alessandro, a centre from Tottenham, Ont., and Kalsi, a power forward from Rexdale, attended St. Thomas Aquinas and the Toronto Basketball Academy, respectively.
 
All eight recruits with make their OUA regular-season debuts for the Lions alongside Coach Philippe in October when the squad returns to action against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Before that, the team will play a number of pre-season games beginning with a contest against the Notre Dame Falcons on Monday, Aug. 21.