UBC head men's basketball coach got his start as both a player and a coach at Lanagara College. Now the Falcons are honouring his excellence with a scholarship endowment in his name. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athleitcs 2018. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Kevin Hanson Scholarship: Langara founds endowment fund in name of former Falcons, current UBC hoops coach

VANCOUVER  — It was the place that gave him his first chance as a basketball player coming out of high school. It’s the place that gave him the opportunity to establish himself in what has become a lifelong occupation as a basketball coach.

The evolving front-court chemistry between second-year Grant Shephard (left) and freshman international Jonah Morrison will be one of the most curious plot lines to follow as the Thunderbirds open their 2018-19 season at home Friday with the opening game of UBC Invitational at War Gym. (Grant Shephard photo by Richard Lam/UBC athletics; Jonah Morrison photo property of FIBA Basketball)
Feature University Men's Basketball

As UBC men’s basketball hosts Laval to open new season, ‘Birds new pairing of Shephard & Morrison is one to watch

VANCOUVER — Mason Bourcier plus incoming star transfers Jadon Cohee and Manroop Clair has all the makings of as vintage a UBC Thunderbirds back court as you could imagine.

Gritty Isaiah Solomon (left), pictured during his 2012-13 rookie season, is hoping to make a return to the UBC men's basketball roster after an extended absence. (File photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.com)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC men’s basketball: Asian international the newest ‘Bird, an Isaiah spotting, Shook joins coaching staff

VANCOUVER — The UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball team may have had its highly-anticipated clash with NCAA Div. 1 UC Santa Barbara, scheduled for Friday at War Gym, cancelled by the visitors concerns with local air quality. That doesn’t mean, however, that in the dead of summer, there was any lack of news emanating from head coach […]

In an offseason where he whet his international coaching appetite again and brought in two of the biggest transfer in program history, UBC head coach Kevin Hanson has made a statement that nothing will remain static heading into the 2018-19 season. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC men’s basketball notebook: Luka’s official farewell tonight, offensive systems get tune-up, ass’t coaching hunt begins

VANCOUVER — In the lead-up to tonight’s men’s basketball friendly at War Memorial Gymnasium between the UBC Thunderbirds and Team China (7 p.m., $5 tickets), we clean up a busy week of news surrounding the local team with a Varsity Letters’ notebook.

UBC's latest recruit, rising fourth-year point guard Jadon Cohee has big goals for both himself and the Thunderbirds' basketball program. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics)
UBC Thunderbirds' head coach Kevin Hanson had plenty of reasons to smile as he welcomed rising fourth-year shooting guard Manroop Clair into the fold on Monday at War Gym. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

The rare air of UBC’s Manroop Clair: Few in all of university hoops can dial distance with the aplomb of ‘Birds newest recruit

VANCOUVER — There is simply no way to understate just how deep and dangerous the UBC Thunderbirds men’s basketball team got when the news hit Monday that former Burnaby South Rebels’ star Manroop Clair would, this coming season, adorn himself in blue and gold and resume his university basketball career on the Point Grey campus.In […]

As Conor Morgan leaves the UBC Thunderbirds program for a pro career in New Zealand, he wil be rightly remembered as one of the program's greatest ever scorers. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC Thunderbirds)
Feature University Men's Basketball

An honour for Conor: UBC’s Capt. Morgan sets a course for Down Under, prepares to begin pro career Friday in New Zealand

VANCOUVER — Still jet-lagged from the Australia-to-Vancouver journey which returned him from the recently-completed Commonwealth Games, Conor Morgan was busy Tuesday putting his body clock on notice for more of the same.

A positional tweak this season has upped the volume of Phil Jalalpoor's offensive contribution to the UBC offence, and the Thunderbirds' German import has made it count. (Bob Frid photo/UBC athletics)
Feature University Men's Basketball

UBC’s Phil Jalalpoor: How a basketball vagabond unpacked his bags and found a perfect fit in Thunderbird nation

VANCOUVER — You’d like to think that the basketball gods put a little check mark by his name back in the fall of 2009. Yes, they would have agreed, it was gutsy how this ninth-grade German kid, at the tender age of 14, left his safe European home on a solo flight to North America

UBC Thunderbirds senior Luka Zaharijevic shares a moment with both his father and school president Santa J. Ono (right). On Friday, Zaharijevic plays his final Canada West regular season game when the Birds host Victoria at War Gym. (Richard Lam/UBC athletics)
Feature University Men's Basketball

For UBC’s Luka Zaharijevic, the weight is over; ‘Birds big man pounds the paint, but not the scales

VANCOUVER — “It’s a secret,” Luka Zaharijevic smiles in response to an intrepid reporter’s question about his current weight. Cryptic? Yes.