VANCOUVER – A new season is set to being for a new-look UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball team, as they open their year with a Friday-Saturday back-to-back set against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns at War Memorial Gym. Friday's game tips off at 7:30 p.m. (PT) and Saturday's at 6:00 p.m. (PT).
After making an unlikely run from a play-in game to the Canada West semi-final, the T-Birds said goodbye to several program stalwarts at the end of last season, including
Triston Matthews, Jack Dumont-Cruz, and
Sukhman Sandhu. Replacing them is a loaded class of recruits and transfers, ready to step in to major roles right away.
"Right now we're still trying to find exactly what our team identity is going to be," mused UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson, entering his 24
th season. "I think we have a lot of great pieces. We're trying to mold ourselves into being the best we can be. We're certainly going to have some high points, we're going to have some low points as we try to find out what our identity is, both on the offensive side and defensive side. I think the potential to be a very solid squad is certainly there."
Among the new faces is local recruit
Adam Olsen, who joins the Thunderbirds right after graduating from Surrey's Elgin Park Secondary and garnering plenty of interest from other big schools before signing on with UBC. The 6-7 true freshman can play at the guard or forward positions and displayed lights out three-point shooting in the pre-season with a quick, clean stroke and high release that proved difficult to contest.
"
Adam Olsen is going to be an incredible for us," praised Hanson. "He's one of the top freshman we've ever brought into the program. Despite just turning 18, he's getting some quality minutes and showing that he's got a huge upside. Still lots of growth to come, it's going to be interesting to see where he gets to."
Another pre-season standout was
Fareed Shittu, a transfer from UNBC. The explosive fourth year is also shaping up to be a versatile weapon for the T-Birds, bringing the crowd at War Memorial Gym to their feet with several ferocious dunks during last weekend's Thunderbird Invitational Tournament.
"With Fareed, we're here to help him package a game, mold himself into an incredible basketball player," said Hanson. "He does so many things you just can't coach, he brings a lot to the table. We're just going to let him blossom and see where it takes him. He's going to do a lot of different things, he's going to play different positions for us. He's obviously a very exciting player to watch, we're very excited to have him in the program."
The 'Birds first opponent is one they have not seen in quite a while, as the Lethbridge Pronghorns come to War Memorial for the first time since 2019. The 'Horns went 6-14 in conference play last season, but reached the Canada West quarterfinals the year before.
"(Lethbridge head coach) Kenny Otieno was a guy who we recruited back in the day to come play for us," noted Hanson. "I think he's got a great basketball mind, was a great player in his prime. You know they're going to work hard, they like to shoot the ball. It's a really good matchup. They have some very dynamic guards, they shoot the three-ball a lot, very much in the Canada West style."
After the home opener, the T-Birds hit the road for seven of their next 10 games, with the only other date at War Memorial Gym before the holiday break being the second half of a home and home with the Victoria Vikes on Saturday, November 25
th. Tickets to this weekend's game can still be found
here. Stream all of the T-Birds' conference games live or on demand on
Canada West TV.
