UBC Thunderbirds' head men's basketball coach Kevin Hanson is planning for a 2020-21 season he knows will be filled with unique challenges. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC men’s basketball: Pandemic may have nixed UCLA Bruins visit to War Gym, yet despite uncertain times, ‘Birds plan with hope!

VANCOUVER — The Canada West’s winter conference seasons had a start date late enough to dodge the hammer of COVID-19 cancellations which fell hard last week on its fall sports cousins in football, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey and women’s rugby 15sYet with the deadline for official word on a best-case Jan. 1 conference […]

Bill Stebbings (third right) is flanked by former players (left to right) Eron Labadie, Bill Richards, Charles Hotel, David Hughes, Bob Hoy and John Christie at the school's Wall of Fame induction ceremony this past December. (Photo property of Seaquam Seahawks athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball

Bill Stebbings 1949-2020: The architect of Seaquam Seahawks boys basketball always saw the big picture first

NORTH DELTA — He was a basketball coach who wanted the world for his players.And in the end, Bill Stebbings helped them find it by showing them that their commitment to the game was redeemable in later life in the form of wisdom and a deeper appreciation for the value of family and friends.On Tuesday, […]

Garrett Rooker, a 6-foot-3 two-sport star at Clear Springs High, just outside of Houston, is headed north to join the UBC Thunderbirds as both a quarterback and guard-forward. (Photo provided by UBC football and Garrett Rooker)
Feature University Football University Men's Basketball

Garrett Rooker: How the UBC Thunderbirds found a Texas 6A-tier football/basketball standout in time for the 2020-21 season!

VANCOUVER — UBC reputation as one of the world’s great universities is certainly no secret to academia’s global community.On Friday, however, that same reputation not only earned the the school a top-flight entrant into its kinesiology program, but a blue-chip high school senior from Texas with the ability to be a difference maker both barking […]

King George's Nikola Guzina (left) is a 6-foot-8, 205-pound senior who comes to the UBC Thunderbirds as a true five-position player. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Vancouver Sports Pictures 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

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.

Two generation of UBC point guards, fifth-year senior Jadon Cohee and head coach Kevin Hanson, have had a meeting of the minds en route to the team's three game sweep through the conference playoffs. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

U Sports Final 8 preview: Kevin Hanson, a former UBC point guard, steps out of his coaching box to bring out best in ‘Birds floor general Jadon Cohee!

VANCOUVER — There is a little part of Kevin Hanson the player, who still remembers what it was like, some 33 years ago, to be part of a team which was able to catch lightning in a bottle.Today, he’s 20 seasons into his journey as the head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds, but back in […]

Just in time, UBC's fifth-year senior Jadon Cohee led the 'Birds to their best game-closing fourth quarter of the season in an upset win over the host Calgary Dinos in the Canada West semifinals on Saturday. With the win, Cohee and the 'Birds have qualified for the U Sports Final 8. (Photo by David Moll property of Calgary Dinos' athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

A Sunday Read: How UBC played its two best fourth-quarters of season on back-to-back nights to punch its tickets to U Sports’ Final 8!

There was a moment during the final time-out of the UBC Thunderbirds’ 88-77 Canada West men’s basketball quarterfinal win over the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night which seems especially relevant this morning.

UBC head coach Kevin Hanson wants his star senior Jason Cohee "...to just be himself" when the 'Birds open against Saskatchewan on Friday as part of the Canada West's revamped post-season format. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC men’s basketball: Thunderbirds’ head coach Kevin Hanson weighs the pros and cons of new Canada West playoff format

VANCOUVER — The eight remaining Canada West men’s basketball teams have no margin for error under the conference’s new and radically-revamped playoff system.

Now in his 20th season as UBC head coach, Kevin Hanson sits one win away from the Canada West's all-time conference wins record. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Fraser Valley Cascades Daniel Adediran (11) and Sukhraj Bains celebrate a two-point victory Saturday over the UBC Thunderbirds. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2019. All Rights Reserved) (Photo by Vancouver Sports Pictures property of VSP 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UFV Cascades’ never-say-die defence enough to top UBC and show just how tough one Canada West win can be, let alone 313!

ABBOTSFORD — On a night when one of the biggest coaching records in Canadian university basketball sat on the precipice of falling, a home underdog determined to have a night of its own dug deep and played the role of spoiler, in the process illuminating just how hard it actually is to win games in […]

After four years in the NCAA Div. 1 basketball world, former Bellevue (Wash.) High ace shooter Zack Moore has brought a more expansive game north of the line to the UBC Thunderbirds. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2019. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

As ‘Birds prepare Friday welcome for Dinos at War, UBC coach Hanson calls new NCAA D1 transfer Zack Moore “…our secret golden nugget”

VANCOUVER — Zack Moore is more, more, more than just a three-point shooter.And while UBC head coach Kevin Hanson certainly appreciates the rare opportunity to bring in a fourth-year, NCAA Div. 1-transfer who has already proven he can step outside the arc and get his fill from distance, it seems quite clear that the Thunderbirds […]