Rabun Gap graduate to represent Turks & Caicos in international games

Nacoochee School graduate and Southern Wesleyan signee RJ Lacossade is taking his basketball talents on to the international stage. 

This week, July 8-12, Lacossade will suit up for the national team of his home country, Turks & Caicos, for the FIBA AmeriCup 2029 Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers. 

Turks & Caicos basketball released its official national team roster for the FIBA qualifiers on July 3, featuring Lacossade and 11 other Turks & Caicos islanders. 

It will be the second time Lacossade has played for Turks & Caicos in his basketball career. In 2022, he suited up for his home nation at the age of 15 in the FIBA U15 Centrobasket Championship. 

“It means so much because it’s a testament to show how far I’ve come,” said Lacossade, who left Turks & Caicos at 14 years old to pursue better opportunities in basketball in the U.S. “Also that Turks & Caicos basketball is not what people perceive it to be. Just being able to represent the country – any country – is a big feat.” 

The FIBA AmeriCup 2029 Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers are part of the first step in qualifying for the FIBA AmeriCup 2029. In the Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers, which are part of the sub-zone pre-qualifiers, 10 teams are split into two groups and the top team from each group advances to the AmeriCup Pre-Qualifiers. 

In the AmeriCup Pre-Qualifiers, teams will compete with other nations to be one of 16 teams to qualify for the AmeriCup Qualifiers. Twelve of those 16 teams will advance to the AmeriCup, comprising the 12-team tournament.  

At the time of publishing, the dates for the other qualifying stages have not been announced by FIBA, however, the qualification period is March 2026 - February 2029. 

In the Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers – the first step toward AmeriCup 2029 qualification – Turks and Caicos was placed in Group A where it will face Guyana, Dominica, Antigua & Barbuda and Bermuda from July 8-12. Each game will be played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in Georgetown, Guyana. 

Turks and Caicos faced Guyana, the host country, in its opening game on July 8 at 8 p.m. EST after The Clayton Tribune’s press deadline. Its next game will be on July 9 at 5:30 p.m. EST versus Dominica. Games can be watched live on the FIBA Basketball YouTube Channel. 

Turks & Caicos officially joined the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA) in 2002 and competed in the Caribbean Basketball Championship in 2004 but went 0-4 in that tournament. The country – which has a population of roughly 47,000 – has never won a game in an official FIBA senior men’s competition or qualified for the FIBA AmeriCup. 

“It would definitely pave the way for Turks & Caicos basketball to be on that beginning team to start something for this country,” Lacossade said of being on the team to potentially qualify his nation for its first AmeriCup. 

“I think personally if we were to go out there and qualify we would probably be in the Turks & Caicos Hall of Fame,” Lacossade said. “It would be a real blessing to go out there and play the best and win and qualify so we could come back again.” 

The Turks & Caicos national team is coached by Slavoljub “Lale” Gorunovic, of Serbia who has coached basketball across the world since 2007.  

Leading the team on the court alongside Lacossade will be 40-year-old Alvardo Parker, Ethan Taylor, Carlens Louis and Dylan Morris. 

Parker, who played collegiate basketball at Texas Christian University (TCU) is the only member of the team with Division I collegiate experience and, according to RealGM.com, was the first recorded player from Turks & Caicos to have played college basketball. 

Taylor, who played with Lacossade in 2022 at the FIBA U15 Centrobasket Championship, is committed to Division II Truman State University which is located in Kirksville, Mo. 

Lacossade said several members of the Turks & Caicos national team have played basketball in the United States. 

Lacossade said his role on the team will “mirror” how he sees himself being used at the collegiate level. He will spend time as the backup point guard, he said, and will get minutes at both the shooting guard and small forward positions. 

After competing in the FIBA AmeriCup 2029 Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers, Lacossade will head to Southern Wesleyan University in Central, S.C., where he will begin the next chapter of his basketball career and become just the seventh player from Turks & Caicos to play collegiate basketball in the NCAA, according to RealGM.com.