Before ever taking the bench as UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball's permanent head coach,
Phil Jalalpoor has gotten the tap to train athletes at the sport's highest level, joining the Toronto Raptors Summer League staff as a guest coach.
"I'm super excited to learn," said an enthused Jalalpoor. "NBA Summer League is really a global event, it's where the basketball world meets. It's something I've always wanted to experience, so now going to be a part of it is very cool.
"I'm really looking forward to just experiencing the day to day, seeing how the Raptors coaches work, see how they interact with players, see how they structure practices. I hope to be able to bring ideas back to the Thunderbirds. New approaches, takeaways, and more tools to help push the program forward into this new era."
Jalalpoor will fly to Las Vegas on Monday to work with the Raptors as a guest coach throughout their entire Summer League run. The opportunity came after he met several members of the organization, including head coach Darko Rajakovic, when the Raps practiced at UBC's War Memorial Gym last fall around their exhibition game in Vancouver.
"Having them practicing in our gym was an amazing experience," added Jalalpoor. "The staff was great, they took the time to come introduce themselves and have a conversation. The players were also generous with their time, talking to our guys and the staff as well. It was all super cool. You can see why it's an elite organization that's been so successful with the culture that they've built."
Months later, Jalalpoor said he got a text from Raptors assistant coach, and Thundebirds alumnus, Jama Mahlalela asking if he was free for a call. That call would be one of the biggest of his young coaching career, as the newly named permanent UBC head coach immediately jumped at the opportunity to join Canada's only NBA team for Summer League.
After he officially signed on, Jalalpoor said he received kind messages from various members of the Raptors organization, including Rajakovic himself.
"He took the time to reach out to me with a text welcoming me to the Summer League staff and said I could reach out to him if I needed anything," noted an impressed Jalalpoor.
"I think that really speaks to how they run their operation, the culture that they've built. Other assistant coaches have also reached out welcoming me. I'm just a guest coach, so I think the way they've welcomed me speaks volumes about their approach, how they treat their staff, how they run their whole organization.
"That alone is something I will already take away. That's the way we want to operate here at UBC as well, as we build up our own culture of excellence. Treat everyone as well as they've treated me."
The two head coaches share a European basketball background, with Jalalpoor training in the German national system from a young age before playing professionally in Spain, Austria, Iceland, and Germany, while Rajakovic cut his teeth coaching in Serbia since the age of 16.
"He's just an elite coach, and when you meet him it becomes clear how he got to where he is," said Jalalpoor. "Seeing how he ran the practice in our gym, how he's able to engage with his players and the staff, it was very impressive."
Jalalpoor was also quick to credit the other UBC basketball alum who will be coaching the Raptors in Vegas with helping him secure the Summer League opportunity, as he joins former Thunderbirds captain Jama Mahlalela on the staff. Mahlalela has been one of the Raptors' top assistant coaches for the last three years, after winning an NBA Championship as a coach with the Golden State Warriors and serving as head coach of the Raptors 905, Toronto's G League affiliate.
"He's been very engaged with the program as an alumnus," praised Jalalpoor. "It's been cool to build a relationship with him and see him still keeping a strong connection to the Thunderbirds community, including coming back to be an Honourary Chair of the U SPORTS Final 8 Basketball Championships we hosted last year.
"He's a very impressive person. There's a reason that we have the Jama Mahlalela Award here at UBC to recognize dedication, leadership and spirit. He's just a salt of the earth kind of guy and definitely the kind of person and coach I aspire to be."
Adding Jalalpoor to the Summer League staff is the latest move to build coaching bonds between U SPORTS programs and Canada's professional teams.
University of Toronto men's basketball head coach Madhav Trivedi was brought to Vegas by the Raptors for a similar opportunity last year, while longtime Toronto Metropolitan University women's basketball head coach Carly Clarke recently left the school join the Toronto Tempo staff as the first Canadian assistant coach in WNBA history.
"I'm open to taking whatever ideas I can from this experience and implementing them to help us get better," concluded Jalalpoor. "Whether that's practice design, tactics, strategy, how they use video, I'm eager to see what I can learn. You don't often get an opportunity to have an inside look at how a top-level organization like the Raptors operates."
Jalalpoor will be returning to UBC at the conclusion of Toronto's Summer League run, which could be as late as July 19
th.
The Thunderbirds begin their regular season on October 29
th when they host the Trinity Western Spartans at War Memorial Gym.
