Former Sheffield Shark Quinn Ellis will make his return to home soil this weekend as Great Britain Men’s Basketball bring to a close their opening set of fixtures in the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifiers.

Ellis will join his 15 ‘training camp roster’ teammates in the second round of the pre-qualifiers as they look to advance from their group to the FIBA EuroBasket 2029 Qualifiers.

On being selected to compete in these fixtures, Sheffield-born Quinn Ellis said: “It's always a blessing to play for and to be called up to the GB squad; it’s a nice feeling to have the jersey on your chest.”

“Obviously, it means a lot to me because my family has played for GB in the past, including my mum and my cousin. This gives me a big responsibility and a lot of pride to be called up and wear the jersey again.”

Ellis has been named as a member of GB Basketball’s 16-player roster ahead of this week’s fixtures as the 25th-ranked European nation look to improve on their performances from the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year.

The GB roster also boasts some ‘firepower’ with NBA stars Amari Williams (Boston Celtics) and Tobi Lawal (Dallas Mavericks) as well as Barcelona’s new signing Tosan Evbuomwan.

On GB’s roster for the first window of fixtures, 23-year-old Ellis said: “Looking at this roster, it’s a really strong roster, obviously there’s a couple of guys from the NBA coming so I think it’s going to be really competitive and a roster that we can do a lot of great things with and I’m really looking forward to it … Now I’ve been in camp; everything’s becoming a bit real now, and obviously we’re doing well preparing for the upcoming games.”

Great Britain has been drawn in Group E for the second round of the pre-qualifiers, which will see them compete against Switzerland and Slovakia to secure advancement to the qualifiers.

The second round of the pre-qualifiers will be played across three windows, with all three nations playing each other home and away.

On their upcoming matches, the two-time Italian Cup winner Ellis said: “I feel like Switzerland the first game there will be a tough game for sure you know they’re a strong nation and playing away for the first game its always more tough being on the road then hopefully we can come back and win that game with more confidence. We will play in Newcastle on Monday against Slovakia, hopefully with a good home crowd and good home support that can really give us a boost and energy.

“I just think that hopefully at home games I can play a bit better because obviously my family will be coming down and they don’t get to see me play much with me being out of the country so it’s going to be extra special for them to come down on Monday to support and see the game and hopefully we can get a win and I can play well for them as well.”

Ellis and his teammates will play two matches, one at home and one away, in the first window of fixtures, which will take place in August 2026.

They will then play one game apiece in the next two windows, which will be contested in November 2026 and February 2027, with the team finishing top of the group advancing to the qualifiers.

On their group and the format of the pre-qualifiers, St John’s University signing for the 2026/27 season said: “I feel like the two games coming up are both winnable games, I feel like winning both of these games will put us in a great position moving forward. If we go 2-0 and win both, then regardless of what happens between the other two teams when they play, we will still be in a strong position and have the advantage going into the last window.

“I feel like this window especially is different to the ones in November and February because in those months you’re in the season and obviously maybe some players can come and others can’t. I feel like in this window we’ll have the strongest team we probably and potentially can have, so for us this window is obviously going to be really important. Then in the November and February windows we’re going to have to see who is available but I feel like we’ll still be in a good position for both of the windows coming up after this one.

Great Britain will begin their pre-qualifiers campaign on Thursday (27 August) as they travel away to take on Switzerland before they return home on Sunday (30 August) to take on Slovakia in Newcastle.