Agot Makeer Heads to Mexico for Olympic Pre-Qualifying Duty With Canada — Here’s the Full Breakdown / sportsearchers.com

South Carolina sophomore guard Agot Makeer is heading to Guadalajara, Mexico this week to represent Canada at the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament, extending what’s already been a remarkably busy international summer for South Carolina’s roster.

Understanding the tournament’s stakes

This particular competition serves a specific purpose within the international basketball calendar — it’s reserved for countries that failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup in Berlin. The stakes are real: whichever team wins the tournament in Guadalajara earns a spot in the 2028 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, making this a genuinely consequential event rather than a lower-tier exhibition, despite involving teams that missed the World Cup field.

An inconsistent camp attendance that didn’t cost her a roster spot

Makeer’s path to this tournament included a notable gap. She was among 17 players invited to Canada’s first training camp of the summer, held June 20-28, but did not attend the program’s second camp, which wrapped with an exhibition against UCLA. Despite that absence, she still earned one of just 12 roster spots for this Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament — a strong indication that her standing within the program wasn’t meaningfully damaged by missing that second session.

A roster built around youth over experience

Canada’s approach to this tournament reflects a deliberate generational shift. The senior national team is actively prioritizing younger talent here, with college players like Makeer, BYU’s Delaney Gibb and Washington’s Avery Howell stepping in for established veterans such as Shay Colley and Natalie Achonwa. Notably, former Gamecock Laeticia Amihere isn’t part of this roster either — though in her case, current WNBA commitments simply make her unavailable regardless of Canada’s roster philosophy.

Guiding this younger core is head coach Nell Fortner, joined by assistants Christie Sides and Noelle Quinn. Fortner brings serious pedigree to the position — beyond her past stints leading Auburn and Georgia Tech, she also coached USA Basketball to Olympic gold back in 2000, giving Canada’s developing roster a coach with genuine championship-level experience at the international level.

A breakout sophomore campaign fuels her international standing

Makeer’s college production supports her growing international role. As a freshman, she averaged 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists — solid but unspectacular numbers. Her game elevated dramatically once the NCAA Tournament arrived, though, where she posted 14.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game while shooting an efficient 46.2% from three-point range — production strong enough to earn her a spot on the All-Region team. That kind of performance spike in the tournament’s highest-pressure games speaks directly to the same competitive upside Canada’s coaching staff is clearly banking on internationally.

A dual citizen with an established international résumé

Though she holds dual citizenship in both the United States and Canada, Makeer has consistently chosen to compete internationally for Canada, previously representing the program at the 2024 U17 World Cup and 2025 U19 World Cup. It was actually at that U17 tournament where she first emerged as a legitimate top prospect, averaging 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists while earning All-Star Five recognition and helping lead Canada to a silver medal finish.

Last summer’s U19 World Cup brought her even closer to another podium finish. She helped Canada reach fourth place overall, and came agonizingly close to a bronze medal — recording a steal in the final second of that bronze-medal game, only to miss what would have been the game-winning three-pointer as time expired. That near-miss adds an extra layer of motivation to her continued international pursuits this summer.

Part of a genuinely global summer for South Carolina’s roster

Makeer’s trip to Mexico is just the latest entry in an unusually active international stretch for South Carolina players this offseason. Junior Joyce Edwards competed for USA Basketball’s 3×3 senior national team, playing in two tournaments back in May before capturing gold at the 3×3 World Cup in June.

Ayla McDowell represented Brazil’s senior national team at the FIBA South American Qualifier, averaging 17.8 minutes, 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists while helping Brazil secure the bronze medal — a result that also locked in Brazil’s qualification for next year’s AmeriCup Tournament. Brazil is separately competing in this same Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament, though McDowell isn’t part of that particular roster.

Alicia Tournebize, meanwhile, has been invited to France’s World Cup training camp, opening August 19 in Paris; should she make that final roster, she’d compete at the World Cup itself in Berlin come September (notably, neither Canada nor Brazil qualified for this year’s World Cup field). Rounding out South Carolina’s international presence, former Gamecocks Aliyah Boston and A’ja Wilson were both named to USA Basketball’s official World Cup roster.

Tournament format and Canada’s group

The group stage runs August 17 through August 20, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout rounds following a scheduled rest day. Canada lands in Group B alongside Senegal, the Philippines and host nation Mexico — a group that offers a genuine mix of competitive levels for Makeer and her teammates to navigate.

Full Tournament Schedule
Monday, August 17 — vs. Senegal (7:30 p.m. EDT)
Wednesday, August 19 — vs. Philippines (7:30 p.m. EDT)
Thursday, August 20 — vs. Mexico (10:30 p.m. EDT)
Saturday, August 22 — Semifinals
Sunday, August 23 — Medal Round

With Canada’s roster built around exactly the kind of young, high-upside talent Makeer represents, her performance across these group-stage games could carry real weight — both for Canada’s Olympic qualification hopes and for her own continued development as one of South Carolina’s most promising sophomores heading into next season.