VANCOUVER – Three UBC Thunderbirds were selected Tuesday night in the 2026 CFL Canadian Draft in yet another historic day in the long and storied history of the program.
Linebacker
Ben Sangmuah was taken 12
th overall by the Edmonton Elks – the highest UBC selection since Lake Korte-Moore went third overall in 2023 – followed by a pair of seventh round picks in linebacker
Chase Henning (63
rd – BC Lions) and receiver
Shemar McBean (65
th – Saskatchewan Roughriders).
The first Canada West representative and just the second U SPORTS player to be selected, Sangmuah turned the heads of scouting staffs on both sides of the border this past season. One of the most athletic T-Bird defensive players in recent years, the Scarborough, Ontario native racked up 22 solo and 34.5 total tackles during the 2025 regular campaign.
Steadily improving over his four-year Thunderbird career, Sangmuah's final season with the blue and gold also featured an interception, a forced fumble and eight pass breakups.
The new Elk product saved his best for when it mattered most last fall, amassing ten solo tackles in UBC's Hardy Cup semifinal contest at Saskatchewan.
Chosen by his home province BC Lions,
Chase Henning put up 15 solo and 28 total tackles in 2025. The Salmon Arm, B.C. product and Sauder School of Business student was also named a Canada West All-Star and a second-team All-Canadian in 2024.
Henning competed in every game in his rookie season, helping the T-Birds to the 2023 Vanier Cup championship game and played a huge role in UBC's Hardy Cup win over Alberta.
Hearing his name called two picks following Henning,
Shemar McBean will give the defending Grey Cup champions a first-hand look at why he was UBC's 2025 receiving leader. Racking up 706 yards and three touchdowns, his 16.4 yards per catch was second highest in the conference, as was his 1175 all-purpose yards.
The two-time Canada West All-Star also boasted a Canada West leading 414 kick return yards in his final season.
Now with 15 selections in the last three years alone, the UBC Thunderbirds have had 43 young men drafted into the CFL during head coach
Blake Nill's 11 years with the program. 198 total T-Birds have been chosen since the team's initial pick back in 1956.
