Phil Jalalpoor's third act as a Thunderbird is about to officially begin.
A former star UBC star point guard and assistant coach with the team, Jalalpoor is about to be on the bench for his first game as interim head coach when the T-Birds host the UFV Cascades in their home opener at 7:30 p.m. (PT) on Friday at War Memorial Gym.
Jalalpoor brings a wide array of basketball experience earned through a life playing the sport around the world. A young Phil first cut his teeth in the vaunted German national team program alongside the likes of reigning World Cup Champions and NBA players Franz and Mo Wagner, and Dennis Schroeder. After a highly successful U SPORTS career that saw him named a Canada West All-Star in 2018-19, Jalalpoor went on to play professionally in Austria, Iceland and Germany. Last, but certainly not least, is his experience as an Olympian playing from Team Iran in 2020, where he could be seen guarding up the likes of Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant in a matchup against Team USA.
Jalalpoor has used his unique path through the basketball world to build an eclectic coaching approach. He's drawn on his litany of experience to apply a European, ball-movement-heavy approach to his offence, impress the importance of sound defensive fundamentals that he has seen make all of the difference in U SPORTS, and embed a growth mindset at the heart of the team's culture in the way that he experienced with national sport organizations competing at the highest level.
"The one phrase would be collective basketball," said Jalalpoor, when asked about his coaching philosophy. "That's everything we're trying to build our program around now.
"Offensively, defensively, understanding that basketball is a bunch of interactions and we need to maximize those interactions. Create flow on offensive, disrupt flow on defence, and just play together, solve everything as a unit."
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Not only do the 'Birds have a new bench boss, but the roster has evolved dramatically from last season's Canada West finalist team.
Seven regulars are gone from the 2024-25 T-Birds, including every single guard in the rotation, giving the new coach a chance to completely overhaul the offence using newly acquired weapons.
"I'm pretty proud of the group, they're finding themselves rather fast, but there are still mistakes being made," mused Jalapoor. "That's to be expected because we're trying to play at a high pace, really intense, and it takes a long time to get used to because it's very mentally and physically demanding.
"Keeping the mentality that we do not stop, we continue to play through mistakes, continue to play through rough phases, has to be our foundation for everything."
While the faces are new, the team's starting point guard does not lack for U SPORTS experience. Holt Tolmie is expected to be the UBC's offensive catalyst on the perimeter, joining the T-Birds after four extremely productive seasons at Mount Royal University. Tolmie comes to UBC for his fifth and final year of eligibility after setting numerous Cougars all-time records, including most points, rebounds and assists in program history.
He will mentor a slew of exciting young guards who will fight for time in a crowded rotation, highlighted by rangy, high-scoring first-year Édouard Gauthier, who was the MVP of the CCAA's RSEQ Conference last season.
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"We want to be the all-stars of being together, being professional, and being present. Those are the phrases we go by," added Jalalpoor. "Our goal is to be the most improved team throughout the year and a team that always fights until the very end."
The T-Birds went 5-0 in the pre-season, but now their first real test is against a veteran-laden UFV Cascades team that finished 9-11 last season. UBC defeated their opponents from the valley in all three matchups in 2024-25, but two were extremely close, including a double overtime game at War Gym in January.
"The Cascades are at the end of a cycle now, they didn't lose much going into this year after almost getting us twice last year," concluded Jalalpoor. "They got better throughout last season, so I suspect UFV to be in the fight for one of the top spots in the conference.
"We need to match their physicality. It's tough to combat a team that's been playing together for a while like them, they're very good."
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Rather than a typical two-game weekend home stand, the 'Birds second game of the season is a short road trip to take on the Trinity Western Spartans at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday, tip-off set for 8:00 p.m. (PT). The T-Birds won two of three games against the 12-8 Spartans last season.
Tickets for Friday's home opener against the Cascades
can be purchased here. Stream both games, live or on demand, on
Canada West TV, powered by BioSteel.
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