Former Kits Blue Demons' star Noah DeRappard-Yuswack, now a fifth-year senior, was outstanding Thursday in leading his Douglas College Royals to within a win of appearing in Saturday's CCAA championship final in Laval. (Varsity Letters file photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature University Men's Basketball

DeRappard-Yuswack, Morris clean the glass, Douglas College Royals show grace under pressure to punch CCAA Final Four tickets

It was the kind of game, you figured, that Randy Coutts and Aaron Mitchell, high school head coaches past and present, were watching on their laptop computer screens Thursday night, nodding their heads in recognition of the hustle and the skill that their respective former players made a habit of showing though pre-university careers.

The Trinity Western Spartans (left to right) Jackson Howe, Eric Loeppky, Carter Bergen, Jesse Elser and Adam Schriemer celebrate a point en route to a 22-2 Canada West record. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of Trinity Western athletics)
Feature University Men's Volleyball

TWU men’s volleyball: Recalibration aligns their stars, Spartans don’t miss a beat in pursuit of U Sports national title threepeat

What speaks loudest about the dynastic way in which Langley’s Trinity Western Spartans have once again reached the summit of Canadian men’s university volleyball this week at the U Sports national tournament?

The Capilano University Blues, including (left to right) Zuzia Zdziechowski, Sherrie Errico, Ashley dela Cruz Yip and Carmelle M'Bikata are in Sackville, NB as part of the 2018 CCAA championship field. (Photo by Paul Yates, Vancouver Sports Pictures)
Feature University Women's Basketball

A feather in his Cap! Blues coach Sadaghiani learns lessons from mentors Huband, Palmer to guide Capilano U to CCAA nationals

LANGLEY — Every cloud is supposed to have a silver lining, but if you ask Ramin Sadaghiani about any kind of pre-season forecast, it’s clear that the head coach of North Vancouver’s Capilano Blues women’s basketball team was measuring the 2017-18 campaign by a completely different barometre.All of that was clear earlier this month when the […]

In just his second season behind the bench as head coach, former TRU and UBC assistant Joe Enevoldson has New Westminster's Douglas College Royals back in the CCAA national tourney for the first time in 10 years. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca_
Feature University Men's Basketball

One decade later: Signature wins over VIU Mariners give New West’s Douglas College Royals berth in CCAA national tourney

NEW WESTMINSTER — It’s Monday morning, following a weekend in which Canada’s reigning university basketball dynasty was brought to a grinding halt, and Joe Enevoldson seems a little out of breath as he answers a reporter’s phone call.

Gonzaga Prep grad Tayler Drynan, still just a sophomore, was among the GNAC's leaders in minutes played this season for the SFU Clan. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca)
University Women's Basketball

SFU’s young & restless Clan: How adversity became prosperity on the road to playoffs for the GNAC’s resident toddlers

BURNABY — They finished the regular season with just seven players, three of whom were freshmen and two of whom were sophomores. From the opening tip, they knew they weren’t going to be holding a Seniors Night because they didn’t have any.

Her comeback from a torn ACL suffered on the basketball court in her senior year of high school now over, UFV's Amanda Matsui has given her service to the sport of volleyball. (Photo courtesy Northfield Photography)
Kedar Salam has been the centre of attention for opposing defences this season. The senior plays his final home game Saturday atop Burnaby Mountain. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Kedar Salam: Simon Fraser’s GNAC scoring leader, a student of the game, has his home finale Saturday

BURNABY — Kedar Salam isn’t going to get a taste of the post-season over his final year of college basketball, yet Simon Fraser’s senior guard is proving to everyone around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference that over the 2017-18 campaign, he has been its single greatest offensive threat.

UBC's Keylyn Filewich is flashing star potential towards the end of her second season with the 'Birds. (Bob Frid/UBC athletics)
Feature University Women's Basketball

This ‘Key’ unlocks the future: UBC’s Keylyn Filewich opens the door and befriends her inner basketball beast

VANCOUVER — Keylyn Filewich emerged from an impromptu one-on-one chat with her head coach one day not too long ago, realizing to a certain extent that she has just discovered her mission statement.

A positional tweak this season has upped the volume of Phil Jalalpoor's offensive contribution to the UBC offence, and the Thunderbirds' German import has made it count. (Bob Frid photo/UBC athletics)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC’s Phil Jalalpoor: How a basketball vagabond unpacked his bags and found a perfect fit in Thunderbird nation

VANCOUVER — You’d like to think that the basketball gods put a little check mark by his name back in the fall of 2009. Yes, they would have agreed, it was gutsy how this ninth-grade German kid, at the tender age of 14, left his safe European home on a solo flight to North America

Simon Fraser's Tayla Jackson, over the last decade, has gone from watching in the bleachers to starring on centre court with her hometown Clan. (Varsity Letters photo by Howard Tsumura)
Feature University Women's Basketball

SFU’s Tayla Jackson: On coming home, on coming full circle and understanding the influence of Clan student-athletes

BURNABY — Hang around in the stands at Simon Fraser’s West Gym after a women’s basketball game, and the first thing you’ll notice are the scores of elementary school-aged girls, all lined up with team posters and felt-tipped pens, waiting to collect the autographs of their favourite Clan players.