By Michael McAllister
CIA Bounce is Canada's premier AAU program. Currently in their program is Syracuse target Tyler Ennis, one of the best point-guard prospects in the class of 2013. We recently caught up with Tony McIntyre, owner of CIA Bounce. We discussed his program, their philosophy, and Tyler Ennis.
Nation of Orange: Tony why don’t you tell us about yourself, CIA Bounce and what you guys are all about.
Tony McIntyre: CIA Bounce started with separate programs. One was called CIA and one was called Bounce. There was a gentleman by the name of Mike George who owned CIA. We went through several years of battles with each other. At the end of it we had serious hate for each other. But the thing was both of our teams were very good. We ended up facing each other in the finals of a lot of tournaments in the United States. So we both sat down, and said we are more or less wasting our time both driving down here, driving eight hours and playing each other. Let’s come together and try to build a program that can compete on a national level in the United States and see how good we can get. About six years ago we came together and we decided to put the past behind us and move forward with it. From that came CIA Bounce. The first team that we had featured a lot of great talent. Including Tristan Thompson. We had Melvin Ejim who’s at Iowa State, Dylan Ennis (Akron), we had Maurice Walker who went on to play at Minnesota. So the team was outstanding. We also had Kadeem Green (Missouri). So all division one talent. We just went down to the United States, and the next year we let’s expand and try to build it up a little more. Now in year five we are all the way down to four years old. We are developing from the ground up with fundamentals and educations as the primary focus. Making sure that all of our players academically will be qualified. And also athletically prepared to compete at the college level. And that’s where we’re at now. Our team features the best players Canada has to offer.
Nation of Orange: Tell us about the players, how they becomes part of CIA Bounce, and that process.
Tony McIntyre: At the beginning it was difficult. We had a great team, but there were other organizations in Canada. We made a pact between Mike and myself to make sure we had a good opportunity and viable option. We believe we put a good product on the floor and focus heavy on academics. We focus heavily on the development aspect of it was well. We wanted the product to speak for itself. It was difficult in the beginning because obviously you’re new. New in the basketball world means you have to prove yourself. As we started winning, more and more kids wanted to be a part of what we were doing. We continued to use our model and focus heavy on academics and athletics. Nike slowly came along and decided we were the organization in Canada that they wanted to work with. That continued to help us be a very viable option for the elite kids of Canada and kids that were focused on what our goals were. It’s been getting easier. Hopefully it will continue. The relationship with Nike has been great. We want to ensure that we put the best product on the floor with the best players on the floor. And in doing that, to also focus not just on basketball but to make sure they’re learning life skills, learning how to be a young man and be responsible. A lot of our kids go to prep school, so that adds another aspect to it. Learn how to take care of yourself, and focus on your education first, and learn how to manage your time so you can be on the right path when you go to a college.
Nation of Orange: Talk about some of your former players and current prospects who we may be familiar with.
Tony McIntyre: The program started with Tristan Thompson. He was one of the biggest names from the standpoint of going through the program in high school. Then he switched over and ended up finishing up with Grassroots. His work ethic was developed at a young age. Now, obviously a big one is Anthony Bennett from the standpoint of participating in the McDonald’s All-American Game, the Jordan Game, the Boost Mobile Elite 24. And then obviously we have the number one player in his class in Andrew Wiggins who just participated in the Nike Hoops Summit. Obviously represented for our program and our country very well. Then we have Tyler Ennis, who is probably one of the best point guards in his class and best point guard out of Canada. Then you have the Bhullar brothers at 7’5” and 7’3”. They’re obviously still developing their game and coming along. We believe they’re going to be great talents. There’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes who’s a great talent from a shooting guard perspective. We’re continuing to grow and get better every year. This year’s team we’re really happy with. Almost every single player on the team has division one offers. We’ve got some very high profile guys with Tyler, Xavier, and Andrew Wiggins. We’ll continue to push through and we’ve got some other guys who compete at a high level day in and day out at prep schools like St. Benedict, Huntington Prep, Montrose Christian with Kevin Zabo who’s a great young talent coming at the point guard position.
Nation of Orange: Syracuse fans are going to be most interest in Tyler Ennis. Tell us about him, his game, how he’s developed, and what kind of person he is off the court.
Tony McIntyre: Generally, I think he’s a point guard that will lead any college team that he decides to go to from a standpoint of making guys around him better. He’s a pass first point guard but has the ability to score the ball when he wants to. Guys love playing with him because they know if they run the floor he finds them. He finds guys open. He’s a leader. He’s got a great personality and just a very calm demeanor both on and off the court. Very seldom, if ever, I’ve seen him rattled during a game. In high-pressure situations he’s the guy you go to, to make things happen. Potentially a coach’s dream when it comes to, ‘you know what I trust you and I’m going to put the ball in your hands. Go out there and do what you do.’ I think it’s going to be a situation where guys are going to love him. Any school that he picks is going to get a guy who’s going to be a potential pro at the point guard position.
Nation of Orange: Where do you think he is in his recruiting process?
Tony McIntyre: In regards to time frame, I think he wants to get into the April live period and then sit down and really get into it. The things that we’ve talked about is who’s been there and made the commitment to recruit him and be at his games. For him, his decision is not going to be based on the name of the school it’s going to be on the relationship with the coach. Because to be a successful point guard you have to be an extension of the coach and if that relationship isn’t the best on the team, it makes it difficult from a trust factor and a play perspective. So that’s what he’s looking at, who he can build the best rapport with, the relationship with and where the trust factor is with coach and player and player and coach. Some of the schools, he has really cut his list down. There are 25 schools that have offered him but we’re looking at schools like Syracuse, Arizona, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Memphis, Kansas. He’s gotten to the point where he can start getting very serious about it in the next couple weeks.
Nation of Orange: Given the current culture of college basketball where freshmen are relied upon to contribute right away more than ever, is he the type of player that could come into one of the major programs you mentioned and be ‘the guy’ right away?
Tony McIntyre: Absolutely. Definitely. There’s no question about it. Every coach that we’ve talked to has said he’s a potential McDonald’s All-American next year and that says a lot. He was New Jersey Gatorade player of the year this year. He can go in and play college basketball and start on most of those teams we talked about. Just because his understanding of the game is so high and his ability to make players around him better is there. He’s definitely that kid who can jump right in and make a huge impact to a program. I’m not going to say he doesn’t have things to work on. Because every kid going into college does. He’s got to work on his body, he’s 6’3” 185 pound point guard. He can put on some more weight from a muscle standpoint. But that’s what happens when you get to college. He’s started that already, and that will continue to develop when he gets to college. But definitely an impact point guard for whatever program he goes to.
Nation of Orange: So you’re saying he could benefit from the freshman fifteen!
Tony McIntyre: I think he could! 185 isn’t too bad 6’3” and he doesn’t have any fat on him. It’s a situation where he wants to get bigger. I don’t know if he necessarily has to. But I think from the stand point from getting your body ready for the next level after college or going into the Big East or ACC or wherever you’re going, you have to be able to take that beating night in and night out.
Nation of Orange: How about Xavier Rathan-Mayes? He has a lot of offers, including from Arizona, Louisville, Kansas and a bunch of other schools. Tell us about him.
Tony McIntyre: He and Tyler are really good friends. They’re both neck and neck in the recruiting process. They’re seeing who’s showing the most love and the most interest. They’re starting to look at how things are falling into perspectives. They’re a lot of decisions made with college transfers, coaches leaving, and players leaving. So they wait to see how things shake out, and when they do shake out, they look at certain teams. They’re both kind of waiting for that which is why they’ve said they want to hold back a little bit. It’s funny because I’ve had this conversation with someone today and I said, ‘this is one of the last times they will get to choose what team they play for.’ Because when you become a pro, you’re not choosing what team you play for. They’re choosing you. When you’re in contract negotiations, after that, are you necessarily picking that team or picking financial situations that fit? So this is the last time that they can sit back and say ‘I want to play for this team, I love this team and that’s where I want to put my heart and soul into.’ That’s important for them to understand that.
In regards to what kind of player he is? Knock down shooter. This weekend he had 41 points in our first game in Milwaukee. He just lights it up. He loves to shoot the ball. He has the ability to penetrate with the ball but I would say his biggest attribute is he can shoot the lights out. He’s got a big solid frame at 6’3”-6’4” and 205 pounds. So he can take a hit. Again, same thing, I think every player coming out of high school has to work on their body. If they didn’t have anything to work on we’d be having a different conversation.
Nation of Orange: Where can we see CIA Bounce for those fans across the country? What events are you participating in?
Tony McIntyre: We try to have our 17’s, 16’s, and 15’s all do the same tournaments. So when I give a tournament it kind of represents all of those, which we primarily focus on from a travel aspect. The weekend of the 20th we will be playing in Minnesota at the EYBL event, which is the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. The following weekend we’ll be playing at Boo Williams in Hampton Virginia. In May, I don’t know the date off the top of my head, but it will be the third EYBL event in Dallas, TX. And the fourth event will be in San Francisco, CA. It will finalize with events in Augusta, Georgia for the Peach Jam. And then we’ll do one more tournament, which we are yet to decide. It will be based on what Nike tells us we can and can’t do, and where we can go.
