TORONTO — Toronto Metropolitan University men's basketball players Aaron Rhooms and Ayub Nurhussien have signed with Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) teams on the league's signing day.

Announced March 26, the new signing day replaces the league's previous draft format and marks the next phase of the CEBL's partnership with U Sports, established in 2019, and more recently the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association. The approach creates a more direct and flexible pathway for Canadian student-athletes to transition from campus to the professional level.

Rhooms is returning to the Edmonton Stingers for a third straight season, while Nurhussien is joining the Niagara River Lions.

Rhooms, the back-to-back OUA men's basketball player of the year and the reigning U Sports player of the year, has now been selected by a CEBL team four times, with his previous three selections coming through the league's draft.

Nurhussien, who redshirted this past season for the Bold after two seasons at Ontario Tech, is signing with a CEBL team for the second time after previously joining the Brampton Honey Badgers in 2024.

Toronto Metropolitan has the second-most signings by a U Sports school in CEBL history, with 11.

For more information on 2026 CEBL Signing Day, including the full list of signees, visit cebl.ca/2026-cebl-signing-day-results.

Through the CEBL's landmark five-year broadcast partnership with CBC Sports, these student-athletes will benefit from national and global exposure. Marquee games will air on CBC TV, including the first-ever best-of-three CEBL Finals in league history, with every CEBL game live streamed on CBC Gem and CBC Sports YouTube and CEBL+. Canadian basketball has never been more visible and it's only getting bigger.

For the full 2026 CEBL schedule, visit cebl.ca/schedule. Details on the league's new playoff format are available at cebl.ca/playoffs, and ticket information for all CEBL games can be found at cebl.ca/tickets.