Zeru Abera (left) of Burnaby's St. Thomas More Knights drives on Dover Bay's Frank Linder in the championship final of the TBI Super 16 invitational Dec. 7 at the Langley Events Centre. Next season the two will be rookie teammates with the UBC Thunderbirds. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

UBC Thunderbirds’ recruit Zeru Abera has been clutch when it counts! Now, the STM Knights senior is embracing the challenge of bringing his intangibles to the Canada West!

VANCOUVER — Ask Kevin Hanson what he finds most special about his most recent high school recruit and he instantly captures the essence of St. Thomas More Knights’ senior Zeru Abera.“It’s a tough thing to teach anyone how to be clutch in a basketball game, especially at the end of the game, and then to […]

UBC's Nikola Guzina drives to the basket against the Trinity Western Spartans in Canada West action Nov. 3 at War Memorial Gymnasium. After losing the 2023-24 season to a brain injury, the 6-foot-10 standout is playing a huge role in UBC's drive to the Final 8 national championships this March. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Bright lights, brighter future: After losing last season to concussion, ‘Birds 6-foot-10 standout Nikola Guzina can see clearly now as UBC gears up to host 2025 U SPORTS Final 8 nationals!

VANCOUVER — Nikola Guzina’s basketball dream had always been to play under the bright lights at UBC’s hallowed War Memorial GymnasiumAnd coming off an amazing two-season stretch at nearby King George Secondary School, where over his Grade 11 and 12 seasons combined (2018-20) he averaged an NBA 2K-like 30.7 points, 14.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists […]

SFU head coach Steve Hanson has coached his Red Leafs to a 3-3 stretch following Thursday's 77-74 overtime win over the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

SFU men’s basketball: Red Leafs battle through fourth straight one-possession contest, go to OT to top Fairbanks 77-74!

By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caHeavy mettle.That’s the best way to describe the Simon Fraser Red Leafs men’s basketball team over its past six games.On Thursday night in Fairbanks, Alaska, a Red Leafs’ team which had opened the GNAC season with an 0-4 record won for the third time in their last six outings, this time going to […]

UBC's Fareed Shittu squares up his release against Victoria's Ethan Boag Thursday in the provincial capital. The host Vikes would later take a 90-88 win over the Thunderbirds at the buzzer on a Boag jumper. (Photo by Justin Morash/JustinM Photography courtesy of Victoria Vikes athletics 2025. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

No. 1 Victora 90 No. 2 UBC 88: Buzzer-beating jumper keeps Vikes perfect, falls like a dagger through UBC hearts!

BY HOWARD TSUMURA (VaristyLetters.ca)Regardless of your rooting interest, one thing was clear Thursday night in the provincial capital.The basketball gods give as well as they take.Ethan Boag’s baseline corner jumper from just inside the three-point arc dropped through the irons at Ken and Kathy Shields’ place just as the final buzzer sounded, giving the hometown, […]

After sinking the game-winning shot at the buzzer in Simon Fraser's 80-77 win Saturday, Jan. 18 over the visiting, nationally 17th-ranked St. Martin's Saints at the West Gym, Red Leaf's point guard Irish Coquia (3) is swarmed by teammates (left to right) Tobe Ezeokafor, Terique Brown, Luke Howard and Tate Christiansen. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2025. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

A Sunday Read: The 48-hour story of how great shooters learn live with misses to celebrate game-winning makes! SFU’s Irish Coquia does just that with buzzer-beating game-winner over No. 17 St Martin’s!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Great shooters never turn down big shots, and in a nutshell, that’s all you need to know about the temperature of the stuff that flows through the veins of Irish Coquia.Two nights after rushing a potential game-winning shot which fell short with a half-second remaining in a 78-76 home floor loss to […]

SFU guard Irish Coquia handled being thrown in the defensive spotlight Thursday in Montana and helped lead his team to its first GNAC win of 2024-25. (Photo by special request for VarsityLetters.ca. All images remain property of Varsity Letters 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

SFU men’s basketball: Offence hard to guard, defence locks down MSU-B’s threes as Howard, Coquia and Red Leafs roll to big win against host Jackets in season’s first GNAC win!

(By HOWARD TSUMURA, varsityletters.ca)Luke Howard’s final basket of the night on Thursday did a lot to prove the notion that the Simon Fraser Red Leafs’ two-game home sweep last week at the hands of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s two Alaska schools didn’t come in vain.In fact when Howard set a high screen for teammate […]

During a timeout Saturday on his way to his 600th overall win at UBC is 'Birds head coach Kevin Hanson. Afterwards, he remarked "...I continue to tell coaches that you have to celebrate every win because you never know when your next one is going to happen." (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2024. All Rights Reserv
Feature University Men's Basketball

A Sunday Read: As UBC’s Kevin Hanson becomes fifth member of U Sports’ 600-win hoops club, the ‘Birds 25-year head coach reflects on what brings true meaning to milestone moments!

VANCOUVER — On a night when Kevin Hanson joined one of the most exclusive coaching fraternities in all of U Sports men’s basketball, there was still no confusing the fact that nothing worth celebrating had ever been earned in a vacuum.Yet don’t misunderstand just how much it meant to the UBC head coach that his […]

Derek Christiansen was one of the UBC Thunderbirds' top scorers during its 1990-91 season, including its No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown in Victoria. (Photo property of UBC Athletics 1991. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

What? It’s been 33 years! Indeed, it’s been since Jan. of 1991 that UBC has faced Victoria in a No. 1 vs. No. 2! Ahead of weekend clash, let’s all take a trip in Howie’s Hoops Time Machine!

VANCOUVER — If you asked the basketball gods to describe the perfect weekend of men’s university basketball in the province of British Columbia, they would tell you it’s beyond words.But they’d also let you know that if  you want to see it live and in-person, all you’ve got to do is head to UBC’s historic […]

UBC's Nikola Guzina drives to the basket against the Trinity Western Spartans in Canada West action Nov. 3 at War Memorial Gymnasium. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC men’s basketball 2024-25: With its “equal-opportunity system” thriving, No. 2 Thunderbirds clash with visiting, No. 1 Vikes as eyes of Canadian university hoop world focus on War Memorial Gym!

VANCOUVER — It’s mid-November, his UBC Thunderbirds have already played 16 games… and won them all.“But I still don’t know who our best five guys are when it comes to playing the best together,” head coach Kevin Hanson explained following practice Wednesday.With his No. 2 nationally-ranked ‘Birds set to play host to the No. 1-ranked […]

Guy MacPherson and your author after a great day of strumming this past November. (Photo courtesy MacPherson family 2024. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

Guy MacPherson (1962-2024) To my basketball-writing brother: I’ll miss you at the B.C.’s this week… but I know you will be watching!

VANCOUVER — “Hey Howard, I’ve got someone you have to meet” my friend, the former Victoria Times-Colonist basketball writer Jeff Rud said, finding me in my customary position, slumped over my laptop while transcribing an interview during one of the frequent media gatherings called by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the run-up to their first season […]