Growing Potential Of CIS Basketball

Special By: Grace Lokole

Canadian Interuniversity Sports (CIS for short) is entering its 53^rd season and given the current microscope placed on Canada Basketball its most important one. Rightfully so most young Canadians dream of playing NCAA basketball, but when measuring success I rather be Phil Scrubb or Johnny Berhanemeskel than a majority of Canadians that go down south. Some of the best motivational speakers will tell you “its not where you start but where you end up” Both Scrubb and Berhanemeskel have cemented themselves in the CIS record books and catapulted their professional stocks while playing CIS basketball, Scrubb even garnering some NBA attention. The truth is there are about 6000 D1 NCAA basketball players and about 5500 would rather be in Phil Scrubb’s position. I mean he dropped 32 on Villanova, and 30 and 12 assist on Wisconsin the year they made it to the NCAA final four. Actually 5800 would rather be Phil Scrubb. The icing on the cake maybe that he gained national team experience playing against the likes of Ricky Rubio and Pau Gasol AND made it back to Carleton’s campus for his final year of school all in one summer. Players like Phil Scrubb & Johnny Berhanemeskal aren’t the only reasons you should tune in to CIS basketball this year. I think the there are some really exciting things happening for Canada basketball at all levels including CIS.

The rest of this article will discuss 8 headlines that I feel should get people excited about CIS basketball.

Carleton Vs. Syracuse Part II

On Sunday November 2^nd 2014 1:00 PM the Carleton Ravens faced off against the Syracuse Orangeman in Syracuse New, York. The last time these teams met was on Friday Aug 23rd, 2012 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. The Ravens lost in a nail biting 69-65 overtime game. The final score of game played on the 2^nd was 76-68 for the Orange but if you had a chance to watch the game you would know Carleton led all game and at one point had a 14 point lead but the Orange rallied in the second half and their front line proved to be too much for the Ravens. Thomas not Phil Scrubb had a monster game for Carleton finishing with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Carleton’s success over some of the best NCAA programs is no fluke; over the past 5 seasons Carleton has proven time and time again that they are a grade a basketball program not only in Canada but North America.

2000 POINTS

Carleton and Ottawa may have one of the most passionate cross-town rivalries in North America. Year after year they fight for titles and bragging rights, but this year both teams have a chance to reach the history books. Captains Phil Scrubb & Johnny Berhanemeskel both have a chance to reach the illustrious 2000-point mark.  Only two other players have reached the 2000-point mark in the history of the OUA and to have two players within arms reach in one season is truly special. Scrubb is going into the season with 1509 points & Johnny with 1561 both are poised to have big seasons for their teams. The record 2092 points is held by the Mighty Kevin Dulude of RMC, if you remember Dulude kept the RMC basketball program alive from 2000-05.

Javon Masters

Masters is a rising star in the CIS, as last years CIS rookie of the year Masters scored a total of 547 points. As a rookie Masters averaged 27.4 points 3.2 assists & 3.6 rebounds on 45.7% shooting from the field 42.4% from the three. Javon paints a basketball masterpiece each time he steps on the court. Just take a look for yourself at his 2013-14 highlights. Masters is well on his way to 2000 points.

Household Brand Names On More And More CIS Jerseys

More and more CIS programs are wearing household brand names such as Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour. The basics of how brands are chosen go a little bit like this. A program current contract expires then they go into the so-called “program free agent market” Brands put in bids and the best bid wins. For a long time Russell had a monopoly on program contracts, Adidas is now taking over more and more contracts. Branding benefits both parties and the fact that more and more household brands are finding beneficiary to partner up with CIS programs shows the progression from even 10 years prior.

More And More State Of The Art Facilities

Saville Center Home of the University of Alberta Basketball program and home of Canada Women’s National team.

When you watch an NCAA game you marvel at the facilities that belong to a majority of NCAA programs. A great athletic facility can improve you athletic program tenfold and more and more CIS programs are in the initial phases of building new athletic facilities. The University of Toronto Blues will be playing in a new facility this season, the University of Guelph has plans to build and improve the W.F. Mitchell Centre and the list goes on. Better facilities and better equipment will result in better athletes, and better basketball.

McMasters Basketball Program

Some of the best coaches will tell you it takes 4 years to truly build a program when starting from scratch. Coach Amos Connolly is entering his 4^th season with the McMaster Marauders; the Marauders have gone 59-28 since his inaugural season in 2010. The Marauders are coming into this season being ranked 4^th in the nation but what makes this current team so special to me is what they’ve done in the off-season and how I feel it will translate to this season. After an 18-4 record in the 2013-14 season the champion Carleton Ravens in the CIS Quarterfinal defeated the Marauders. Coach Amos and his team went into the off-season with the same common goal a majority of the Top CIS basketball teams not named Carleton have; “BEAT CARLETON” by all means necessary. Coach Amos forward thinking led him to a partnership with Kyle Julius and his partners NPH, and No limit Performance. This partnership would bring some of the best basketball players in Canada at all levels during the off-season to McMaster’s gym to work and develop. The luxury of playing against Canada’s best all summer will benefit the Marauders the upcoming CIS season. Look for them to put up more of a fight when they meet the Ravens on November 8^th.

Carleton Vs. Ottawa game 1 & 2

The closest thing in Canada to North Carolina Vs. Duke these guys grocery job in the same stores, get their hair cuts at the same barbers even go to most of the same bars. Ottawa players see Carleton players all the time and Carleton players see Ottawa players all the time. These cross-town rivals always give us entertaining games. These two teams faced each other 4 times last season Carleton winning 3 out of 4 games.  Coming into this season Carleton has lost an All-Canadian in Tyson Hinz and Ottawa has added an OUA All-star in Alex Ratte. These two teams will play on January 10th 2015 and February 6^th 2015 in what should be the most anticipated games of the season.

Calgary Dinos Athletics

For years the Calgary Dinos have been the leader in Canadian Athletic Scholarship funding and on September 9^th 2014 it announced that the full amount of $500,000 in the Dinos Athletic Excellence Award program will be available to student-athletes in the 2014-15 academic year. The Dinos coaches and fundraising staff challenged the community to match the Universities 250,000 fund resulting in $500,000 in athletic scholarships for deserving student-athletes. The increase essentially doubles the Dinos’ scholarship offering from 2013-14 and, when combined with the Jimmie Condon athletic scholarships funded by the Government of Alberta, will bring the total financial aid for student-athletes at the University of Calgary to $1.5 million in 2014-15.

The Future

What I’m excited for most isn’t an event, player, or milestone. I’m most excited for the future of CIS basketball and its ever growing potential. CIS basketball is gaining more and more respect globally, this past summer CIS players Clinton Springer Williams and Owen Klassen had NBA workouts. 2 years ago OUA All-Star Warren Ward was tearing up NBA Pre-Draft workouts in Vegas. In addition to players getting attention from NBA franchises some CIS coaches have taken steps into NBA coaching realm. Brock Head Coach Charles Kissi has worked with Dwane Casey of the Raptors, Roy Rana worked with the Utah Jazz summer league staff, and former Lakehead Coach Scott Morrison is now head coach of Boston Celtics D-League affiliate Maine Red Claws. Last but not least Phil Scrubb a year from now may end up on a NBA roster. I’m not here to compare the CIS to the NCAA but here are some interesting numbers, The NCAA is 108 years old the CIS is 53 years old and it can only grow. In my opinion in terms of talent the top 5 CIS schools can compete with a majority of mid-major NCAA teams and I think this trend will continue for years to come.

Follow Grace Lokole on Twitter at @Grace_TPCDN

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