Ireland head coach Mark Keenan has expressed his delight at having Kyle Hosford back in the international fold as his side prepare for a double-header against Switzerland and Azerbaijan to conclude their 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup pre-qualifying campaign.
Ireland, who occupy second spot in Group A, face table-toppers Switzerland this evening and then make the long trip to Baku to take on Azerbaijan on Sunday.
Group winners automatically advance to qualifying proper, with the best second-ranked team from the three groups also progressing.
Luxembourg and Armenia currently edge out Ireland for that coveted spot, while Ireland's record against the bottom team in their four-team group will be discarded as the other pools each contain just three teams.
"We've a massive two games ahead," Keenan said as he oversaw practice in Switzerland on Tuesday.
"Everything is channelled to Switzerland right now, a quality side who run a lot of different actions on the offensive end. So we'll have a lot of emphasis on defence."
Ireland have significant injury-enforced absentees, with pre-qualifying leading scorer Taiwo Badmus sidelined, missing his second window in succession, and Aidan Igiehon also ruled out.
Sean Jenkins does return to the fray, while the decision of 35-year-old Hosford to come out of retirement is a huge boost to Ireland's immediate prospects.
"Kyle has been putting in some great performances for his club, UCC Demons," Keenan enthused.
"We needed another natural point guard in the team, so he was the obvious one to call up.
"We're delighted to have him back. He played here a couple of years ago, so he's not going to be fazed by anything.
"It's unfortunate that some guys have injuries, but there are opportunities for everybody else to set up."
The Swiss have been familiar foes for Ireland in recent years, and while the visitors haven't managed to upset the rankings, they have been involved in close encounters.
"We know their personnel, obviously some have changed, but there are still six or seven guys there from the team from a couple of years ago," Keenan added.
"Looking at our team, we have six guys still here from that team that played in the 2025 EuroBasket [pre-qualifiers in 2022] here.
"We're familiar with them. We've played them five times, including two friendlies, over the last three years.
"We know them well, but it's about taking away what they love to do.
"They're a great short-roll and screen team. That's hurt us in the past. We just have to key in and try and contain that.
"We're in with a shout and it's all to play for. We want to go to the next round. We want to elevate ourselves to another level.
"We set a great bar for ourselves in November in the last window with the way we played, so we want to keep that standard up and try and push on."
2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 pre-qualifiers:
Switzerland v Ireland, Thursday 20 February, 18:30
Azerbaijan v Ireland, Sunday 23 February, 13:00
Ireland squad: Adrian O'Sullivan (Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU), Conor Quinn (Belfast Star), David Lehane, Kyle Hosford, James Hannigan (UCC Demons), John Carroll (EJ Sligo All-Stars), Jordan Blount (Flexachem KCYMS), Matt Treacy (Snaefell, Iceland), Neal Quinn (Aix Maurienne Savoie Basket, France), Rapolas Buivydas (Garveys Tralee Warriors), Seán Flood (London Lions, United Kingdom), Sean Jenkins (Griffith College Éanna)
