Ballincollig's Jossell coming to terms with gravity of cup basketball run

Latavious Mitchell and Latrell Jossel of Ballincollig pictured at the Domino's National Cup Finals Media Day ahead of the Domino's MSL National Cup final. Pic: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

It took a while for Latrell Jossell to realise how important the cup is in Irish basketball but the Ballincollig man is well aware of what winning the Domino’s Cup final this Saturday would mean for the club.

Jossell is in his first year as a pro having played NCAA basketball at Kansas, Stephen F. Austin, and North Texas. 

The cup run has been a new experience for the American.

“When we got to the semi-finals, I started to realise how big it was. For me, when I think of a season, I think about the end of the season being about winning a championship. There’s nothing like the cup in college basketball,” he said.

“At the semi-finals, I could see the looks on the faces of people and that’s when I realised just how big it was.” 

Ballincollig’s extraordinary 13 game winning streak in all competitions came to an end at the weekend in a Super League defeat to St Vincent’s. 

Jossell thinks that may not be the worst thing that could have happened.

“It felt good as a team to win, it was a good confidence booster. It might sound bad but it’s good to lose a few. You’ve got to know that feeling to not want to lose again,” he said.

Having grown up between Chicago and Dallas, Jossell has settled nicely into the less hectic surroundings of Ballincollig. He’s confident a win on Saturday would boost the club’s charge towards a possible Super League title come the end of the season.

“Life is a bit different but one thing that has made it easy is that it’s a welcoming town. The people are nice and I’ve had a great time in Ballincollig,” Jossell said.

“Winning on Saturday would give us more juice to go get the next one. If we come out on top, that’ll help us do it again in April.”