VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds Football team's offence just got a whole lot more dangerous with the addition of one of the country's top wide receivers in Scarborough, Ontario's Gavin Owen.
A product of the prestigious St. Andrew's College, Owen boasts natural athletic ability with a 6-foot-4 frame capable of a 34 inch vertical along with tremendous speed. Simply put, he's the type of athlete who can dramatically enhance the T-Birds' offensive potential.
"Gavin fits one of our highest needs right away, we felt we needed to bring in one or two or even three receivers who can create a vertical stretch and that in a sense will make it tougher on teams to load the box versus our running game," said UBC Head Coach
Blake Nill who's busy preparing for his eighth season with the T-Birds. "This is a young man who as a freshman can come in and you're going to have to cover him with two players. And if you don't, he's going to create problems himself. If you do, it's going to help supplement our run game."
A naturally gifted athlete, Owen started playing organized soccer as a preschooler and was also an accomplished minor hockey player before picking up football in grade nine. Transferring to St. Andrew's for his grade 11 year, he's now ready for the next big step in his playing career.
"I'm a big target and I'm fast. I can utilize my height and my speed because not a lot of guys are my height and as fast as I am so I feel that really brings something to the next level," said Owen who has already had the chance to meet and connect with his new quarterback, 2021 Canada West Rookie of the Year,
Garrett Rooker. "I really feel like Garrett can get me the ball. I feel that's my biggest upside, my height, speed, and ability to get open and create mismatches."
When it came to choosing his university, Owen had no shortage of options on both sides of the border. Set to study Geography at the Point Grey campus, the academic value he saw at UBC played just as big a role as the promising young team he's joining on the field.
"When I started weighing all the schools I was talking to, UBC was a no brainer. It's a top 40 ranked school in the world and education for me and my family is really important," Owen explained. "I got off the plane and saw Coach Nill and I instantly felt at home. Obviously the weather was a lot better, six degrees in February is unheard of for a kid from Toronto. I love the guys on the team, I really enjoyed my visit. You guys have mountains, the ocean is right there, it's beautiful. All the indigenous artwork everywhere, I loved it. I loved being on campus, it's so multicultural, it felt like a great fit."
His new head coach also sees Owen's addition as a natural fit, and a player who can have a major impact right away in multiple ways.
"They're a tremendous family, they've been fully supportive of the UBC opportunity right off the start and that enabled Gavin to keep an open mind because he was being recruited on both sides of the border," said Nill who prizes Owen's high intellect and strong character as much as anything. "And you have to give a lot of credit to the St. Andrew's staff and head coach Marcello Lio. The quality that comes out of St. Andrew's both athletically and academically, I'm excited to have another St. Andrew's kid, I can't remember when the last one I had was and I'm looking forward to maybe having one or two more in the future."
Led by Rooker's outstanding freshman season in 2021, the Thunderbirds are a team on the rise, a young group that garnered some terrific experience last year, providing the eventual Vanier Cup finalist Saskatchewan Huskies a good battle in the Hardy Cup semifinal.
Owen adds to that young group which included the conference's top rusher in
Isaiah Knight, as well as fellow receiver
Edgerrin Williams who racked up the fifth-most receiving yards in the Canada West.
"I realized how young of a team it was when I got there. I'll have Garrett for three years out of my four years which is big for me, that's huge. That's my quarterback and somebody I'm going to have to have a good relationship with. I also love the O-line and trust them."
Being able to snag a player of Owen's calibre is another testament to what Nill and the Thunderbirds are building.
"This program is getting it's share of wins on and off the field, a lot of it has to do with our alumni who are doing a tremendous job and our department is enabling success," added Nill. "We just have to keep doing the work."
