LANGLEY — The best part of ageing into an ‘old’ basketball writer?For me, it’s that rare but reassured feeling I get, when against any reasonable expectation, a player straps the fortunes of his team on his back, and in this case almost carries them to an improbable upset.That is the place I found myself this […]
University Men’s Basketball
A phenom for the future, UBC Thunderbirds basketball spreads its wingspan and welcomes Elgin Park’s 6-foot-7 guard/wing Adam Olsen to War Memorial Gym for 2023-24 season!
VANCOUVER — Adam Olsen is all business when it comes to the level of compete he will bring to the UBC Thunderbirds basketball team next season.In fact if there was a metric capable of measuring just such an intangible among B.C.’s graduating high school Class of 2023, the 6-foot-7 guard/wing Olsen might well sit at […]
Buchanan Cup 2022: UBC hoops notes include the return of Jadon Cohee, our look at three rising ‘Birds in Luka Lizdek, Nikola Guzina, Triston Matthews and more!
VANCOUVER —Kevin Hanson loves the fact that his 2022-23 Thunderbirds are getting a great taste of post-season atmosphere before the conference season even gets a chance to tip off.On Friday, a little over two months after the ‘Birds kicked it all off in front of a near-capacity home crowd of 2,103 on Aug. 16 with […]
Buchanan Cup 2022: For UBC’s James Woods, a career defined by beating the odds makes ‘Boy Wonder’ a well-earned nickname!
VANCOUVER — Deep down in his basketball soul, James Woods has always been Boy Wonder.It’s the nickname he picked up before he was old enough to shave, before he even started to play high school basketball for Langley’s Walnut Grove Gators.And on Friday night (7:30 p.m.), when he pulls on his No. 11 UBC jersey […]
Buchanan Cup 2022: “Coach, you’ve got a lot of new guys…” Simon Fraser Red Leafs face host UBC Thunderbirds on Friday with a new-look team intent on finding some instant karma!
BURNABY — A reporter takes a seat last week in the Burnaby Mountain office of Simon Fraser head men’s basketball coach Steve Hanson, offering an apology ahead of what must be the most obvious observation of all.“Coach, you’ve got a lot of new guys…”Willing to indulge his inquisitor in the playful manner in which the […]
Kelowna Owls’ Sebastien Manuel: B.C. Boys Volleyball 2021-22 Player of the Year brings a heart-and-soul love for the game to his hometown UBC Okanagan Heat!
KELOWNA — Let Sebastien Manuel tell you a volleyball story and before long you start to realize, from the conviction of his delivery, that he’s actually talking about what matters most to him in life.Is there a way to best describe him?How about the word ‘steeped’ as in “…to be surrounded by or filled with […]
After frigid start, Simon Fraser rallies from 22 points down to stun visiting St. Martin’s! Says point guard David Penney: “Now we know we have another gear we can get to!”
BURNABY — It wasn’t exactly a first half that you would put alongside the most inspiring in the history of Simon Fraser men’s basketball.In fact, it ebbed low enough about four minutes from halftime that the home team was staring a 22-point deficit straight in the eye Wednesday evening at the West Gym against the […]
As UBC Thunderbirds host UFV Cascades on Friday, the trick in a 2021-22 Canada West hoops season of stops and starts is finding a way to stay in rhythm with your routine!
VANCOUVER — You’re the head coach of a Canada West men’s or women’s basketball program, and as the most disjointed regular-season campaign in conference history does its best to wind towards an organized conclusion, one question seems to keeping topping all others in terms of relevancy.Between re-scheduled games and extended byes, what’s the best way […]
Mason Bourcier: With three triple-doubles over his past six games, Trinity Western’s well-travelled guard puts down his hoops roots at Langley Events Centre!
LANGLEY — Ask Mason Bourcier about the good times he is starting to have again on the basketball court, and he seems to first take a backwards glance into his own figurative rearview mirror before speaking.“I used to be that kid, who if you showed him a brick wall, he’d run right through it,” Trinity […]
Simon Fraser men’s basketball: Sitting in first place atop the GNAC standings, SFU set to embark on marathon schedule of games over next three-plus weeks!
BURNABY —A famine filled with cancellations has added up to a feast of games for the Simon Fraser men’s basketball team.In what will amount to playing almost a half season of conference games over a span of just over three weeks, SFU opened a gruelling stretch of nine games over a span of 24 days […]