Hello B.C high school student-athletes, as well as your parents, and the entire community of coaches, athletic directors and administrators around our great province.It’s time to begin compiling the 14th annual Varsity Letters’ B.C. Recruits List, a project which had its genesis back in the spring of 2006 when I worked at The Province newspaper.Each […]
High School
B.C. coaches say “…basketball is going back to being about you and a hoop” How to summon your inner-Naismith in a time of social distancing
NORTH DELTA — What defines a self-made athlete?As the 2019-20 B.C. high school basketball season was coming to an end last March, just days ahead of a province-wide COVID-19 shutdown, it was certainly not a topic I spent much time pondering.Yet some two months later, I can say with great confidence that it has emerged […]
Varsity Letters PODCAST 05.06.20: ND Huskies coach/teacher Jesse Hundal on educating during a pandemic, the Class of 2020 and the late Brandon Bassi
NORTH DELTA — The Podcast is back. Apologies for our extended absence. Today, we are joined by Jesse Hundal, a teacher and boys basketball coach at North Delta Secondary School. Jesse chats openly and positively about the challenges facing both teachers and students these days as the 2019-20 academic year comes to a […]
UFV men’s volleyball: Recruiting in a time of pandemic, Cascades come together sight-unseen for debut 2020-21 Canada West season
ABBOTSFORD — Recruited in the time of COVID-19 by a coach he’s never met, and headed off to a university campus he’s yet to even set foot on?On the basis of those two factors alone, you could correctly assume that Zach Wikenheiser has a lot of things on his mind as he prepares for a […]
Nikola Guzina: With a versatile game that hints at shades of Conor Morgan, UBC inks multi-skilled King George Dragons’ star
VANCOUVER — Ask Nikola Guzina to talk about his rise to prominence on the hardcourt, and the standout incoming recruit of the UBC Thunderbirds proceeds to do so with a nod of thanks to the basketball gods.
Chase Claypool drafted by Pittsburgh Steelers! Abby/Notre Dame star receiver ready to become a Big Catch for Big Ben!
Chase Claypool’s gridiron journey will move from one fabled football locale to another.Four seasons after Abbotsford’s Big Catch announced himself to the college football world in South Bend, Ind., with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the 6-foot-4, 238-pound receiver is on his way to Steel City for the start of his NFL career with the […]
Chase Claypool: From Abby Panthers to Notre Dame, Irish star receiver shows why he’s a big catch ahead of NFL Draft 2020!
It was back on Feb. 27 that the NFL’s statistical research department sent out a tweet which seemed to officially confirm the unique qualities of Notre Dame senior receiver Chase Claypool.
A Sunday Read: UBC football coach Blake Nill says Jason Soriano, Kaishaun Carter “…the ones who can make you Coach of the Year”
VANCOUVER — UBC Thunderbirds football in the Blake Nill-era hit its low ebb in 2019, yet four seasons after its rousing, unexpected 2015 Vanier Cup national championship title debut, a second wind has begun to blow through the ranks of the blue and gold.
Dominic Parolin: Despite the challenges of recruiting, Centennial’s superstar big man finds his fit at NCAA Div. 1 Lehigh University
COQUITLAM — The world changed virtually overnight following the completion of the 2020 B.C. senior boys basketball championships on March 7.And with COVID-19 world pandemic very suddenly the new reality, Centennial senior forward Dominic Parolin quickly realized that the recruiting process he had waited years to be a part of was going to be a […]
Neil Brown: Brookswood’s legendary ex-coach on hoops retirement, Ace Konig and the path to hardcourt enlightenment
LANGLEY — If you followed Neil Brown’s Twitter feed this past season, then you know that in retirement, one of the most decorated members of the B.C. high school basketball fraternity is enjoying the full measure of connectedness that comes with mentoring hundreds upon hundreds of student-athletes over a coaching career that has touched parts […]