VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds are set to start a milestone season by taking on a pair of local rivals in their first steps toward hosting the 2025 Indochino U SPORTS Basketball Final 8 presented by Victory. First up is a trip to the valley to take on the UFV Cascades on Halloween night at 8:00 p.m. (PT). Then on Saturday it's the 2024 Home Opener presented by YVR, when the T-Birds will host traditional rival Trinity Western for a 4:00 p.m. (PT) tip-off at War Memorial Gym. Saturday's game will also feature a special Musqueam welcome prior to tip-off.
In one sense, pressure is off the T-Birds as their spot at the U SPORTS Championship is already assured, in a friendly environment no less. In another, the team will be playing under a microscope, with the automatic host berth cranking up expectations in a season where the 'Birds' two Canada West All-Stars from the year before,
Brian Wallack and
James Woods, have each moved on to pursue professional opportunities.
"You never know what's going to happen when you lose two players of that caliber," commented UBC head coach
Kevin Hanson, whose 542 wins against U SPORTS opponents are the most among active coaches across the country and fourth most all-time. "Brian had been here for six years as a big part of our program, Woods for three. They took a bunch of our shots, certainly both got a lot of minutes over their careers and we had a lot of success with them. But we've managed to reload, other guys have another year under their belts and we've brought in some strong recruits who have held their own and played well for us.
"We're really excited about what we can do, having both the national championships here you approach the year a little bit differently. I think this is one of the deeper teams that we've ever had, so it's just about finding the right guys each game and seeing who gels together. That'll be a challenge for us, but it's a great problem to have. I certainly like what I see out of this team."
UBC is hosting both the men's and women's basketball championships this season, marking the
first time that a school has taken on both tournaments at once.
The first of the 20-game regular season for the blue and gold is a matchup against a UFV Cascades team who the T-Birds have not seen for a couple of years, despite the relative proximity of the two campuses. UFV finished 8-12 last season, but pulled off an upset win over Regina in the Canada West Play-In round, before falling to Winnipeg in the quarter-finals to end their campaign.
"UFV is going to compete hard, they've had a good pre-season schedule as well, tested themselves and worked in some new pieces," commented Hanson. "Once they start really playing together they're going to be a super good ball team."
After the Cascades come the Trinity Western Spartans, who lost twice to the Thunderbirds at War Memorial Gym last year. TWU finished at 5-15, missing the Canada West playoffs entirely. However, Hanson believes the Spartans will see significant improvement this season.
"The Spartans' play in the pre-season shows how much better of a team they are than their record last year would indicate," said the coach, entering his quarter-century campaign with UBC. "They're scoring a lot of points, they've had two huge transfer pickups and then in their returning guys, they've got some real talent. They've had some great results in the pre-season, they're super tough, they're athletic, they've got size, they're playing an up-tempo style. They are one of the teams that I think can surprise people because of their grit.
"I've been really impressed with what we've seen in the pre-season across the board, the talent level of the B.C. teams in particular. Everyone seems to have picked up a player or two and some key players have stayed. There's going to be some great basketball being played this year, which bodes well for Canada West and making all of our teams better.
"We're going to expect everyone to give us their best games this year, knowing that we have the automatic berth to nationals, teams will want to see how they measure up."
Tickets for Saturday's home opener at War Memorial Gym may still be available
here. Catch all UBC Thunderbirds regular season basketball, live or on demand, on
Canada West TV.
