Point guard to point guard... UBC head coach Kevin Hanson confers with second-year point guard Jack Cruz-Dumont, who on Saturday at SFU follows in the footsteps of his later father John, a former 'Birds great, by playing in the Buchanan Cup crosstown rivalry clash. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC’s Jack Cruz-Dumont: As the Buchanan Cup grudge match resumes Saturday at SFU, ‘Birds starting point guard follows his family’s footsteps!

VANCOUVER — Even though it is arguably still one of a handful of the best basketball rivalries in B.C. basketball lore, it also is one which has been played so infrequently as to almost be forgotten by today’s generation of players.Yet something as glorious as the Buchanan Cup, the formerly annual men’s hoop grudge match […]

Simon Fraser's Jasdeep Gill knocked down a huge triple with under two minutes remaining to help SFU past Cal State Dominguez Hills in its 2021-22 debut Friday in Carson, Cal. (Photo by Paul Yates property of Simon Fraser athletics 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

SFU men’s basketball opens with win at CCAA/GNAC Challenge: Simon Fraser shows a new defensive edge in victory over Cal State-Dominguez Hills Toros!

It’s been so long since the Simon Fraser men’s basketball team last played an actual game that they were bound to look a little different than their past selves.The Burnaby Mountain crew which debuted Friday night at the CCAA/GNAC Challenge in Carson, CA., however, was at first glance, a lot different.“We have changed a lot […]

Fraser Valley Cascades (left to right) Jordyn Sekhon, Ahmad Athman and Kyle Claggett share the connections between their jersey numbers and lives spent both learning their sport and celebrating that experience with family. (Photos by Gibi Saini property of UFV Athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

On the eve of its 2021-22 hoops re-start season, trio of UFV Cascades reveal jersey number origin stories and their direct connection to basketball and family!

ABBOTSFORD — On a team of athletes, there is nothing more utilitarian than the number assigned to each player’s jersey.It’s a stamp of identification for purposes of record, whether for points scored, penalties taken or in most instances, the simple act of participation.Yet ask the athletes themselves about their true sum value, and quite suddenly […]

UBC guard Grant Audu has paid his dues and honed his game and enters the 2021-22 season as a true team leader. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC men’s hoops 2021-22: A new season tips off Thursday with game-ready additions as defending Canada West champ ‘Birds ready for small-ball or tall-ball!

VANCOUVER — They are not exactly a team shrouded in mystery, yet on the night of the final sleep before opening the 2021-22 Canada West men’s basketball season, it’s impossible to have a genuine handle on just what kind of team the UBC Thunderbirds are going to be.And you can take that right down to […]

Trinity Western guard Mason Bourcier keeps a step ahead of Calgary's Jackson Bayles during Canada West preseason action Oct. 7, 2021 at the Langley Events Centre. The game marked the first university game played at the facility since Feb. 8, 2020. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Winless in 2019-20, new-look Trinity Western men’s basketball debuts in style as Q, Mace and the Spartans upset Calgary Dinos 93-84 at the LEC!

LANGLEY — There was a sense of the surreal in the air Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre.Just 96 fans, watching the first university basketball game held in the facility since Feb. 8. 2020, in what would officially be its smallest sell-out crowd ever.No one else was watching because there was no livestream outside […]

Q the return. TWU's dynamic scoring guard Ja'Qualyn Gilbreath leads the Spartans' small ball attack as the Langley school plays the first U Sports men's basketball game since March of 2020 when it hosts the Calgary Dinos on Thursday at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Scott Stewart property of TWU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Trinity Western opens its 2021-21 men’s U SPORTS season Thursday vs. Calgary! Debut for Spartans’ dynamic backcourt of Ja’Qualyn Gilbreath and Mason Bourcier!

LANGLEY — The longest dry spell in the history of U SPORTS basketball is set to end on Thursday.“I think we’re (one of) the first U SPORTS team in the country to play,” says Trinity Western Spartans’ men’s basketball coach Trevor Pridie, looking ahead to Thursday’s limited capacity pre-season exhibition opener against the powerhouse Calgary […]

The Langley Events Centre was announced Thursday as the new home of the Fraser Valley Bandits. (Langley Events Centre photo)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Pro hoops come to the LEC: Fraser Valley Bandits make the move to Langley Events Centre for 2022 CEBL season!

Via Press ReleaseLANGLEY — The Fraser Valley Bandits announced Thursday that the club has chosen Langley Events Centre (LEC) as its home for the upcoming Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season, which begins May 2022. As the new home of professional basketball in B.C., LEC builds upon its history of showcasing the province’s best players by […]

SFU's Steve Hanson (right) and UBC's Kevin Hanson may not be related, but the two men's head basketball coaches are linked through the programs they guide and the depth of history their programs share. On Nov. 20, after six years on the shelf, the two will lead their teams into a Buchanan Cup showdown as part of the SFU Showdown atop Burnaby Mountain. (Photos by Richard Lam and Howard Tsumura property of UBC athletics and Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Simon Fraser vs. UBC: The classic men’s B.C. university basketball rivalry is re-born! Mark down Nov. 20 at SFU for a rowdy Buchanan Cup tip-off!

BURNABY — For once in a long while the basketball stars at Simon Fraser and UBC have aligned.The end result?The Lower Mainland’s longest standing men’s basketball rivals have agreed to make Saturday, Nov. 20 the date for the resumption of the classic Buchanan Cup series, this edition seeing the Thunderbirds traveling up Burnaby Mountain to […]

After testing the NBA's pre-draft evaluation waters, Utah Valley star and Steveston-London product Fardaws Aimaq announced Wednesday he is pulling out of the 2021 NBA draft in favour of a junior season with the Wolverines over which he hopes to make himself a 2022 NBA first-round pick. (Photo by Isaac Hale property of Utah Valley University marketing 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

‘Daws takes one season pause on NBA draft: Richmond native and Utah Valley star Fardaws Aimaq on why his NBA sights now set on 2022!

Fardaws Aimaq is coming back to college, and he’s smiling wide because he’s doing so with a whole lot of NBA knowledge.The 6-foot-11 Richmond native and reigning NCAA Div. 1 rebounding champion this past season at Utah Valley University had announced back in early April that he would be testing the NBA’s demanding pre-draft waters […]

It's been tough for high school recruits in the Class of 2021 to find places on college and university teams, yet Brookswood's Quinn Jasper and Harrison Robinson of Lord Byng have landed with Douglas College and Langara respectively. (Photos property of Howard Tsumura and Wilson Wong 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball University Women's Basketball

“They need to be really persistent…” B.C. high school Class of 2021 grads in tough to find spots on crowded university & college rosters!

VANCOUVER — What’s the toughest challenge for a talented B.C. high school basketball player looking to continue his or her career as a student-athlete this coming season at the college or university level?How about simply finding a place to play?Student-athletes from B.C.’s hard-luck Class of 2021 have not only lost their entire senior season of […]