Canadian Big Roche Returns for Fourth CEBL Campaign
The St. John, NB forward has played 47 career CEBL games between Saskatchewan, and Guelph since 2022
The Saskatchewan Rattlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Wednesday that the club resigned 6-foot-11 Julian Roche for the 2025 season. The Saint John, New Brunswick-native will return to the CEBL for his fourth season, while adding length to the Rattlers front court.
“Julian will provide some size and depth at the Forward position,” said General Manager and Vice-President of Basketball Operations, Barry Rawlyk. “He is a veteran of the CEBL that is familiar with the physical level of play in the league, a will be familiar to many of our fans.”
During his four-year professional career, Roche has played with six teams in Switzerland, Germany, Greece, North Macedonia, and Canada. He has a career average of 8.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 0.9 assists, and 20.7 minutes in 142 games.
Roche made his professional debut in 2022 when signing with the Guelph Nighthawks of the CEBL playing 19 games and averaging 2.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 0.4 assist, and 12.2 minutes per game. He tied a career-high of 15 rebounds in his very first professional game on May 26 against the Shooting Stars. He ranked top-five on the Nighthawks in games played (19), total blocked shots (8), and total rebounds (59). After the 2022 CEBL season, Roche signed with Swiss Central of the Swiss Basketball League in Switzerland. Where he was ranked first on the team in blocked shots (19) and total rebounds (168), and second on the team in total points (290) and field goal percentage (58%).
In 2023, Roche signed with the Saskatchewan Rattlers where he averaged 4.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.6 assists, and 14.2 minutes while playing all 20 games. He led the Rattlers with a team-high 59.7% field goal percentage and ranked third with 0.5 blocks per game. During the CEBL offseason, Roche signed with Paderborn Basket in the German Pro A League. While in Germany, he averaged 6.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 15.9 minutes playing in 27 games. Roche was ranked second on the team with 127 rebounds and grabbed season-high 13 rebounds on October 7th.
Roche returned to the Rattlers for the 2024 season, appearing in nine games. During the 2024 CEBL offseason, Roche signed with Near East in the Greek HEBA A2 league. While in Greece, he averaged 11.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 blocks, 1.5 steals, and 28.1 minutes in 23 games with 21 starts. Roche went on to sign with KK Rabotnicki AD Skipje of the Macedonian Superleague where he averaged 13.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.3 blocks, 0.6 steals, and 25.3 minutes in 15 games with 11 starts. KK Rabotnicki finished with a record of 15-7 holding the second spot in standings during the regular season.
“I look forward to suiting up again in Green and Wheat,” said Roche. “I have seen that the support has been tremendous this year and I look forward to getting back out there in front of the fans and competing hard for them. It feels great to be back!”
Prior to his professional career, Roche attended Proctor Academy in Andover, New Hampshire. As a three-year starter, he averaged over 12 rebounds per game during his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. He was an all-state selection while a sophomore, during that season he averaged 14 points and 13 rebounds per game. Roche began his collegiate career at Santa Clara University of NCAA D1 in 2016. He redshirted for the 2016-17 season, then saw the court as a reserve in the 2017-18 season playing in six games. He transferred to Simon Fraser University in 2018, playing in 28 games while averaging 28.0 minutes, 13.4 points, 1.2 assists, and 6.6 rebounds per game. He was named to the GNAC All-Conference Second Team and a finalist for Male Athlete of the Year by Simon Fraser University. As a junior, he played all 29 games in the season averaging 22.3 minutes, 8.3 points, 0.9 assists, and 6.0 rebounds per game. In his senior year, he averaged 30.2 minutes, 13.0 points, 1.7 assists, and 8.2 rebounds in 24 games. He was ranked first on the team in points per game (13.0) and rebounds per game (8.2). Simon Fraser recognized Roche as Male Athlete of the Year. He was named to the GNAC All-Conference Second Team and GNAC Men’s Basketball All-Academic Team. During three seasons with Simon Fraser, he averaged 11.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 26.6 minutes in 80 games.
Julian Roche will return to the Rattlers roster for their next game on Thursday June 26 2025 when they play against the Calgary Surge at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, SK.
The 2025 schedule has been released, which features a new 24-game slate. The 2025 CEBL Playoffs are scheduled to begin Thursday, August 14 with the Conference Play-In games, followed by the Conference Semifinals on Saturday, August 16. The winners will advance to CW25 to join the Winnipeg Sea Bears (host team) and the top-ranked team from the Eastern Conference who are automatically seeded into the Conference Finals. The full playoff schedule with tipoff times will be announced at a later date.
General public and returning season ticket members can claim their seats for the entire Rattlers 2025 season by using Account Manager. All tickets can also be purchased through the Rattlers Front Office (306) 244-2181, Saskatchewan Rattlers website, or via Ticketmaster. Flex Ticket Bundles can be purchased online or at the Rattlers Front Office, which features a minimum of four-tickets in any section with a bonus gift card to Moxies. Single game tickets are available now via Ticketmaster. For more seating options, suites, and group rates; fans can contact an account executive.
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About the Saskatchewan Rattlers
The Saskatchewan Rattlers are Saskatchewan’s professional basketball team, one of the six
original teams in the CEBL – the Rattlers won the 2019 inaugural season championship. Playing out of SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – the Rattlers offer an entertainment-focused environment surrounded by some of the world’s top professional athletes. The Rattlers are a community-first organization and take pride in their ability to bring communities together while making sport more accessible to the province.
