There will be a familiar last name at Canada Basketball’s U-19 training camp.
Abdul Aziz and Abdul-Malik Olajuwon, the sons of Basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, were among 47 players invited to participate at the April session in Toronto on Thursday.
Hakeem Olajuwon spent 18 seasons in the NBA, concluding with the 2001-02 season as a Toronto Raptor. The Lagos, Nigeria, native was a two-time NBA champion, was named league MVP in 1994 and made 12 all-star teams.
He played for Team USA at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, winning a gold medal as a naturalized American citizen.
The Olajuwon kids’ connection to Canada is through their mom, Canada Basketball told Sportsnet.
The six-foot-six Abdul Aziz Olajuwon is part of the 2026 college recruiting class, while Abdul Malik Olajuwon, a five-foot-nine point guard, is a 2027 recruit.
Both Olajuwons currently play high school basketball in Sugar Land, Tex.
The Canada Basketball camp, which runs from April 18-21 at Humber College, will be used to identify talent ahead of the U19 World Cup, which takes place in July in Switzerland. Participants must be born after 2005.
Olivier Rioux, the seven-foot-nine Terrebonne, Que., native who redshirted for national champion Florida this season, is also among the invitees.
