John Carroll makes retirement U-turn after US plans put on backburner

“I figured if I was going to be around, I might as well keep playing."

COMEBACK: John Carroll of Ireland during the FIBA Men's EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier against Croatia. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

By the time John Carroll officially announced his retirement from international basketball in late February, aged just 28, he’d already been done with the sport for six months - he just hadn’t made it public.

Then circumstances changed. The full stop on his career became a semi-colon. Last month, the 6’ 7” forward played games for Ireland against Guatemala and Armenia in Los Angeles. He is in the squad for the August Bank Holiday weekend’s games against Denmark.