WHEN Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica at the end of October the relatives of Jamaica’s basketball captain, Kentan Facey, suffered significant losses. Now rebuilding, the rural Trelawny native is determined to lift their spirits and the nation’s as the team continues its FIBA World Cup Qualifying campaign.

Facey, the 2025 National Player of the Year, will lead Jamaica as they take on The Bahamas on Thursday and Canada on Sunday, in their group games of Americas Qualifying at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston.

The national team will look to continue its momentum after beating Puerto Rico twice at the end of 2025, which sees them sitting joint top of the group with the Canadians.

Facey, formerly of Knox College, was one of the top performers in those historic victories but it was hard to solely focus on basketball after seeing what his family went through during the Category Five hurricane which damaged most of western Jamaica.

However, the 32-year-old from the New Town District, between Troy and Albert Town, says they’ve been picking up the pieces, one day at a time.

“It was tough for my family and people in my community,” Facey told the Jamaica Observer. “We’re more rural than most places or some places so for my end, I helped to do a fund-raiser to raise some money. We raised over US$15,000 [$2.3 million] to distribute throughout the community to help some people. We got hit pretty bad but the community of people that we know came together and helped us to start the rebuilding process.”

Facey, who plays professional basketball in France, dedicated the wins against Puerto Rico in Decembver to the people impacted by Hurricane Melissa.

He’s planning to draw inspiration from his community’s recovery as he looks to guide the team to their first win on home soil.

“That definitely plays an important role for me,” he said. “It gives them something to be happy and cheer for. It’s been a rough few months, so for us to have something to look forward to and for me to be a part of that, it means a great deal to me.”

Jamaica’s profile in basketball has increased over the last year due to their impressive performances. As they get the opportunity to play in front of their countrymen for the first time, Facey wants the team to leave a mark that will help develop the sport locally.

“We’re proving to the world and to ourselves that we have the capabilities to compete on the highest level,” he said.

“So for us to have our first set of games here, it means a lot. We’re setting the precedent of what Jamaica’s basketball could be in the future. We hope to continue to build on what we have to get some more resources so we can expand and grow more.”

With The Bahamas ranked 10th and Canada second, 18th-ranked Jamaica enter their games as the underdogs. However, after surprising Puerto Rico, Facey is confident the team can pull off another upset.

“We have a great group of guys; we all understand each other, we get along well off the court, so I believe that translates well on the court,” he said.

“There’s no way you’re going to one of the most hostile places to play [in Puerto Rico] and pull out two very gutsy wins without having that sense of togetherness and grit. I think that’s probably our biggest strength — the fact that we’re together and we understand each other. We try to minimise the big egos just by being there for each other.”

Jamaica basketball captain, Kentan Facey focuses as he prepares to shoot.

Jamaica basketball captain, Kentan Facey.