By Howard Tsumura
VarsityLetters.ca
BURNABY — With a brand new coaching staff and half of its roster new to the fulltime climes of Burnaby Mountain, it’s no stretch to say that Simon Fraser Red Leafs men’s basketball is set to open a new chapter in its program’s history.
And page one of that treatise will begin write itself come Friday when SFU plays host to its own three-day CCA Division 2 Canadian Tip-Off Classic at the Langley Events Centre.
Both the men’s and women’s teams, along with fellow Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams will oppose foes from other NCAA Div. 2 conferences in what amounts to an expansive 18 game schedule.
For new Simon Fraser head coach Barnaby Craddock, a Vancouver native who has come home following his extended success in U SPORTS with the Alberta Golden Bears, the Canadian Tip-Off Classic is sure to be an illuminating early marker on where his team stands with regards to a returning core meshing with a large collection of newcomers.
“These are three high-quality teams that are coming up here, so we’re throwing ourselves right into the fire early and getting tested,” said Craddock on Monday morning of Central Oklahoma, St. Edwards (Texas) and Cal State-San Bernardino.
“And that’s good,” continued Craddock. “Right now, it’s about us coming together as a unit, leaning how to play together as a unit so when conference play kicks off, we’re able to start to be close to our peak performance.
“Right now, understandably, we’re all still figuring out a new coach and new teammates and there are going to be lots of learning curves ahead of us in the upcoming months. But we see a positive future.”
Craddock has replaced longtime head coach Steve Hanson, who had held the position for the past nine seasons (2016-25).
A graduate of Vancouver’s Lord Byng Grey Ghosts, Craddock went on to play in the CCAA for head coach Kevin Hanson at Langara before transferring into the U SPORTS ranks and closing out his university career with a three-season run with the Lethbridge Pronghorns. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 23.7 ppg over his final two seasons with the ‘Horns.
Craddock very quickly distinguished himself over a 20-year run as a U SPORTS head coach. He compiled a 419-234 (.642) overall record, was twice named U SPORTS Coach of the Year and is the only men’s coach in U SPORTS history to lead three schools (Brandon, Fraser Valley and Alberta) to the national Final 8 championship tournament.
This season’s Red Leafs come into the new season without the known quantity of a defined go-to leader on offence, a situation that opens up opportunities for every player on the roster.
And as last season so aptly illustrated, the day-to-day growth of a team can often times unveil unanticipated scenarios.
As the 2024-25 season tipped off 12 months ago, the Red Leafs’ 6-foot-9 junior transfer forward Luke Howard, an Abbotsford native, was expected to step into that very mantle, and he did not disappoint. Howard averaged 16.7 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting a high-volume 42 per cent from three-point range. A knee injury, however, will keep him out the entire season.
What some may not have been expecting was kind of trajectory that point guard Irish Coquia would take after redshirts and injuries made him the team’s de facto all-everything point guard.
Coquia, the former Vancouver-St. Pat’s star who has since transferred to Div. 1 New Orleans, poured home a team-leading 16.9 ppg to go along with 4.8 assists and 39 per cent (64-of-164) three-point shooting.
For his part, Craddock was happy to have secured the services of a veteran point guard, also with local roots, to steer the ship in his first season at the helm of the Red Leafs.
Mikyle Malabuyoc, the former Vancouver College standout, is coming off a sophomore season with U SPORTS’ Western Mustangs in which he started all 23 of his games, averaging 12.4 points and 5.0 assists at a near 3-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio, while shooting 36 per cent (33-of-91) from beyond the long line.
“He’s a fantastic, polished point guard,” Craddock said of his floor general. “We need him to lead. It’s a new coach. It’s new players and returning players. So everything’s new to everyone. Having someone with some veteran ability at the point to pull everyone together is crucial and he’s taken on that challenge… you know, to try and help everyone get their shots, and to make them all better.”
There’s also the key element of bringing back a pair of former Handsworth Royals out of North Vancouver. both redshirt juniors, in 6-foot-5 forward Matthys Van Bylandt, and 6-foot-4 guard Tate Christiansen.
Craddock mentions the pair immediately as two essential holdovers from last season who form a huge part of the cornerstone of a team in transition.
“You know, it’s about surrounding yourself with good people and that’s how you build a solid future,” added Craddock. “And there were already solid leaders here, like ‘Tice (Van Bylandt) and Tate.”
In addition to those two, SFU’s returning core includes four others, led most prominently by the team’s 7-foot starting centre Zach Stone, who rejoined the Red Leafs over the final 11 games of last season and posted averages of 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and a team-best 48.6 per cent average from three-point range (17-of-35).
The coaches around the league are well aware of his talents, voting him SFU’s lone representative on the GNAC men’s preseason All-Conference team.
“That’s good motivation for him to work and have a good season,” said Craddock. “He’s capable of it. He’s a seven-footer, he can shoot the ball and he plays with a level of composure.”
Also returning is the team’s sixth man a season ago, 6-foot-5 guard Tobe Ezeokafor, who has flashed signs of the potential to become a dynamic three-point shooter in the conference. And as well, Terique Brown, the 6-foot-2 redshirt senior guard, shot 43 per cent from beyond the arc last season.
Also back is 6-foot-8 junior reserve forward Nikola Barac.
Along with Malabuyoc, five other newcomers are finding their place in the rotation.
Two most seasoned of that quintet would be Tulsa, Olka. native Ajani Jamison, a 6-foot-5 junior forward from Blue Mountain CC in Pendleton, Ore., and Daniel Smith, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Winnipeg and a transfer from the OUA’s Carleton Ravens.
“We said ‘Hey, here’s a talented guy from the States and we think he can help us,” said Craddock when asked specifically about Johnson who averaged 19.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game with his junior college team last season.
Craddock has stressed program’s need to bring in the best fits it can find in B.C., while still keeping room open for intriguing talent from outside the province.
“He shoots the ball well, and you know, he’s not a freshman,” added the head coach. “He’s played a couple of years of college basketball in the States. So we’re expecting him to step in and play a significant role.”
Josiah Sutton, 6-2 freshman point guard from Caledon, Ont., has stepped up and earned minutes through the preseason and looks to be the immediate backup at point guard Malabuyoc. Injured holdover Jimmy Zaborniak is still recovering from a knee injury suffered on the eve of the 2024-25 season.
Two other B.C. high school products are on the scene and both could play key roles as the season progresses.
Roko Maric is 6-foot-10 redshirt freshman forward from Vancouver College via Div. 1 South Carolina State.
Sartaj Bhangu is a 6-foot-7 freshman forward from Surrey’s Tamanawis Wildcats.
Guard Thomas Manganini and forward Colin Speller are listed on the team’s website as redshirts.
And as Craddock said right off the top, this weekend’s CCA Division 2 Canadian Tip-Off Classic at the Langley Events Centre will immediately place the Red Leafs in front of three high-quality opponents.
Simon Fraser opens Friday (8 p.m.) against Central Oklahoma, continues Saturday (8 p.m.) against St. Edwards (Texas), the wraps up Sunday (6:15 p.m.) against Cal State-San Bernadino.
If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com.
