UBC Thunderbirds' fifth-yeast senior Conor Morgan, one of the nation's elite, has been lost for a potentially extended period of time following an elbow injury suffered Thursday in Saskatoon. (UBC athletics photo by Richard Lam)
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UBC star Conor Morgan lost to elbow injury, freshman Grant Shephard sees role increase

The UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball team has added a lot of new faces to its 2017-18 roster, and while they have clearly shown huge promise in the early going, they may well be without their best player for an extended period of time.Head coach Kevin Hanson told Varsity Letters on Friday afternoon that forward Conor Morgan, the […]

Luka Zaharijevic and the rest of the UBC Thunderbirds will plug their wins into a different RPI formula in 2017-18. (Richard Lam. UBC athletics photo)
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TSUMURA: The new RPI and how it could affect UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball

VANCOUVER — Martin Timmerman has taken the old numbers and done the new math. And although there isn’t any kind of guarantee for fans of the UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball, it does strongly suggest an upward rebound in the exchange rate of a 19-1 conference record in the Canada West for this coming 2017-18 season.

Fraser Valley Cascades' Riley Braich has embraced his inner Yale Lion heading into his sophomore U Sports season. (Dan Kinvig/UFV athletics)
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UFV guard Riley Braich tips hat to the power of three and a special Yale Lions’ troika

ABBOTSFORD — To an impressionable middle schooler, they served as his early mentors, a pair of giving gurus who would not only come to share a past with Fraser Valley Cascades’ guard Riley Braich, but a path towards a common goal.

UBC's Conor Morgan had a bitter ending to his fourth season in blue-and-gold. (Richard Lam, UBC athletics) (Richard Lam, UBC athletics)
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UBC’s Conor Morgan: ‘Birds hoops star puts pro career on hold for final kick at national crown

VANCOUVER — Conor Morgan has a bright future ahead of him when it comes to the prospect of making a healthy living playing the game he loves.UBC Thunderbirds’ fans, in fact, may be surprised to learn just how close the nation’s second-leading scorer came during the off-season to hanging up his blue-and-gold jersey in exchange […]

Kelowna Owls' senior guard Mason Bourcier gives the UBC Thunderbirds yet another blue-chip B.C. recruit. (Wilson Wong, UBC athletics)
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Kelowna’s Mason Bourcier stamps platinum status on UBC Thunderbirds solid gold recruiting class

VANCOUVER — Mason Bourcier is turning the 2017 recruiting class of the UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball program into the school’s own version of the NBA’s 1996 draft lottery.

As a Kelowna Owl in March of 2016, new UBC Thunderbird recruit Grant Shephard smooched with the tournament MVP trophy. (Richard Lam, UBC athletics)
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UBC gets Grant the Great! Kelowna’s Quad-A MVP Grant Shephard chooses ‘Birds

(This is a complete write-through of the earlier story Varsity Letters broke on UBC’s signing of former Kelowna Owls basketball star Grant Shephard. There’s more quotes from all concerned including Shephard’s former high school coach Harry Parmar, and additional reporting on the impact his arrival could have on the program)VANCOUVER — Even after an inglorious end to its 2016-17 U Sports […]