Emanuel Sharp may not have a Canadian passport, but the Houston Cougars’ impressive sophomore guard certainly has some connections to this country.
Sharp, who led top-seeded Houston with a career-high 30 points in a 100-95 overtime win over Texas A&M on Sunday, is one of 43 players listed on Canada Basketball’s list of Canadians in this year’s March Madness — because he would be eligible to play for the country in international play.
Sharp’s mother is Justine Ellison Sharp, who was inducted into the University of Toronto Varsity Blues hall of fame in 2009. The Hamilton native — who played for 41-year Varsity Blues coach Michele Belanger — was national university women’s athlete of the year in her senior 1995-96 season for the basketball team and led U of T to a pair of national silver medals.
After her university career, Justine went on to play pro hoops for 10 years in Israel, where she met her future husband and Emanuel’s dad, Derrick Sharp, who also had a long career playing basketball in that country. Derrick Sharp was a member of the 2005 Maccabi Tel Aviv team that stunned the Raptors in Toronto in a pre-season game.
“I grew up around professional basketball,” Emanuel Sharp told PaperCity Mag last year. “That’s really all I know. Coming from that background, I learned to enjoy the game that much more. Because as a kid you want to be like your parents.”
Emanuel was born in Tel Aviv in 2004 — and played for Israel’s under-16 team. The family eventually moved to Florida, and Emanuel Sharp lists Tampa as his hometown.
The six-foot-three Sharp more than doubled his scoring average in his second season, averaging 12.3 points. He started his NCAA career on a top-seeded team last year after fracturing his fibula and dislocating his ankle in his final year of high school.
Houston will next play fourth-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16 on Friday in Dallas.