The Canadian Elite Basketball League recently held their draft, selecting from a pool of U Sports and US collegiate athletes. The Saskatchewan Rattlers are the leagues defending champions, after they hosted the inaugural Championship Weekend in Saskatoon last August. The 2020 tournament will be hosted in Edmonton, and the Rattlers will hope to make a return to the finals.

The draft opened with the leagues newest team, the Ottawa BlackJacks selecting hometown Carelton U product Tajinder Lall. The Rattlers held the last pick of the first round, and the first pick of the second as the league operates under a "snake" draft.

U of S Huskies guard Chan De Ciman was the Rattlers pick at 7th overall. De Ciman served as the teams designated U Sports player last season, so the team is no stranger to his abilities. He was injured for the back half of the CEBL season, and sat on a medical redshirt for the Huskies this past season. De Ciman averaged 11.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 23.1 minutes in 50 career collegiate games with the University of Saskatchewan.

The next pick of the draft saw the Rattlers open up Round 2, selecting guard Rashawn Browne from the University of Manitoba. Browne began his career at the University of New Mexico playing Division I Basketball, but his college career took him for a stop through the second division, and eventually landing in Canada to compete in U Sports. His final year saw him average just over 20 points and 6 assists a contest, good enough for 3rd in each category in Canada West.

The Rattlers draft pick saw them take Alexander Dewar, another U of S product. The third guard selection of the draft for the Rattlers, see's the sharpshooting Dewar come in with an impressive shooting percentage of .476 over his career. He was named a U Sports Academic All-Canadian in 2018-2019.

The team says these three draft picks will look to add the needed speed, physicality and skill required at the professional level.