VANCOUVER - A year after winning the Canada West men's basketball championship on home court, the UBC Thunderbirds have reloaded for a title defence in 2013-14.
Head coach
Kevin Hanson, who became just the third coach in Canada West men's basketball history to reach 200 regular season wins last year, has assembled another strong team with depth and experience, even though the roster barely resembles the one that represented UBC two years ago.
Just two players,
Tommy Nixon and
David Wagner, remain from the 2011-12 squad.
But since then, UBC, under Hanson's guidance, has brought in two impressive recruiting classes as well as a number of valuable transfers, quickly rebounding from a first-round playoff exit in 2012 to capture the league title in 2013.
Gone from last year's Canada West championship team are graduated players
Doug Plumb, a second-team All-Canadian who is now playing professionally in Hungary, and
O'Brian Wallace.
Two new players have taken their place among the veterans on the roster.
Andrew McGuinness, a dangerous shooting guard entering his fourth season of play, sat out last season after transferring from the University of Calgary. The 6-foot-3 guard is the younger brother of Erica McGuinness, the all-time leading scorer in UBC women's basketball history. Their father is former T-Birds football player and women's basketball assistant coach, Shawn McGuinness.
The other transfer who will see the court this season is former Trinity Western University player
Tonner Jackson, a 6-foot-7 guard/forward who is completing his Masters degree at UBC.
McGuinness and Jackson join a strong group of guards returning from last season.
For the first time in the Hanson era, UBC relied on two rookies at the point guard position during the 2012-13 season and both
Isaiah Solomon and
Jordan Jensen-Whyte were impressive in guiding the Thunderbirds while making the adjustment from the high school level.
Kedar Wright, a combination guard out of Brampton, Ont., joins UBC as a player straight out of high school and has been impressive during the T-Birds' first preseason games.
Bret Macdonald, a transfer from UBC Okanagan will sit out this year to be eligible for next season.
Up front, coach Hanson added one of the best recruits from B.C. high school basketball, Kitsilano's
Luka Zaharijevic, to his group of forwards, which includes the top three returning scorers from last year.
Brylle Kamen was a welcome addition to the UBC roster in 2012-13. He led the team in rebounding (9.4 per game) and was third in scoring, with 11.6 points a game. Kamen recorded 21 rebounds in a game twice last year, falling two boards short of the school record of 23.
Wagner had a breakout season, finishing fourth on the team in scoring and entrenching himself as a starter.
Nixon enters his fourth season of play with UBC. The versatile player averaged 10.1 points a game last year while taking on different roles with the T-Birds. The Kitsilano Secondary graduate started 13 games last year and was one of the first options off the bench for coach Hanson in the ones he didn't start.
Second-year forward
Conor Morgan has been hobbled by a foot injury in the preseason but will be a solid contributor off the bench. The former Canadian Junior National team member adjusted well to the university game after graduating from Victoria's Mt. Douglas Secondary. Morgan improved as last season progressed and delivered a 13-rebound performance against Alberta in the first game of the Canada West playoffs.
UBC's newest addition,
Harpreet Randhawa, a Douglas College transfer, rounds out the forward group. Randhawa is a graduate of Columneetza Secondary in Williams Lake and played at Douglas for two years before coming to Point Grey.
Like Jackson,
Michael Steele can play both guard and forward positions. He's entering his last campaign with UBC and was second on the team in field goal percentage last season.
UBC has a nice mix of talent, youth and experience heading into the regular season, which begins today in Regina. In all, seven players from last year's Canada West title run are back. Nixon was also on the 2011 league championship team.
They'll need that talent and experience to come together again to traverse the tough Canada West conference, repeat as league champions and contend for a national championship at the CIS Final 8 in Ottawa.
UBC will also visit Brandon on Saturday before returning to Vancouver to prepare for its home-opening weekend Nov. 8-9 when it hosts Trinity Western.
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