New faces on the basketball court

By Josh Rose

Get ready for a new season of basketball as the University of Calgary women’s basketball team showcases a new head coach with olympic experience. After hosting the women’s final-eight national championships and upsetting the heavily favoured Regina Rams during the tournament, the women’s basketball team is looking to continue the progress made last season. The experience gained during the national championships will undoubtedly be a boon to the Dinos who entered nationals as the lowest seed in the tournament.

The men’s squad is looking to avenge their heartbreaking last-second defeat in the Canada West quarterfinals at the hands of the University of Victoria Vikes. The quarterfinal defeat came in the third game of a very close best of three series against UVIC and ended with a buzzer-beating layup last February.

Complicating things, the men’s basketball team is also graduating several key players from last season including forward Boris Bakovic, guard Dustin Reding and 2011–12 male athlete of the year nominee Tyler Fiddler.

For the first time in 18 seasons, the women’s team will not be coached by Shawnee Harle. Harle leaves the Dinos as the longest serving head coach in the program’s history. Her energetic persona on the bench leaves an indelible mark on the history of Dinos basketball. A three-time CIS coach of the year in 1996, 1998 and 2008, Harle also was the benchboss when the Dinos won their last national title in 2001. Her lifetime winning percentage will remain an impressive .597 (222–150).

If the new women’s coach Damian Jennings seems familiar to you, it might be because he was the assistant coach at the London 2012 Olympic games for the British women’s basketball team. Jennings arrives with an impressive resume. He led the women’s Cardiff Metropolitan University Archers to an elite status in the England Basketball League.

“College basketball [in England] is a bit different because we have a club system. We were a club of the city that grew from a university. There are many clubs based solely out of the city,” said Jennings of the EBL. “Players graduated and were able to return because we were a club. We weren’t just students”

The Archers captured a league title in 2010 and a regular season title in 2012. Jennings was named coach of the year for the EBL in the 2008–09 season.

“I would say I’m an international coach based on what I’ve been exposed to. Being from Europe and having watched a more European style of basketball, I certainly enjoy watching ball handling and ball screen type of offenses,” said Jennings. “I want my players to develop into multi-skilled, strategic basketball players.”

As this is Jennings’s first season in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport, he plans to build an identity with high-tempo defense and offense.

“We want to be in the best shape we can be, much better than our competitors, so we can run the style of basketball that the crowd enjoys watching and that we enjoy playing,” said Jennings.

“I have no clue about how we will match up against other teams and that doesn’t bother me. All I care about is how we present our identity and our basketball.”

On the men’s side, the Battle of the Border is always an exciting summer tournament held in Calgary. The U of C gets an opportunity to show off the next season of Dinos against some highly-skilled American teams.

If one was to look at this season’s team in the annual tournament, there would be many unfamiliar faces.

“This season’s team is better than last. We are tougher in multiple positions. Our point guard has more depth and we have more balance in our scoring,” said men’s head coach Dan Vanhooren in an email.

Third-year point guard Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson is expected to be this team’s leader with Thijin Moses and Anaclet Mbayi to contribute in scoring. Skill development and strength and conditioning programs have been in place during the off season for both the men’s and women’s teams.

“These [programs] should benefit our youth and keep our injuries down,” said Vanhooren.

The men’s side open their season in October with the Calgary Cup taking place at the Jack Simpson Gym, from October 11–13. Their first regular season game is on October 25 at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

The women begin their CW season also on the road at Dalhousie on October 4. The Dinos then enter the Mount Royal University tournament October 19–21. Their first home game of the season isn’t until November 2 when they face off against the University of Mantioba Bisons.

It is always exciting to watch a varsity team play with new recruits each fall. The 2012–13 men’s and women’s basketball teams will certainly be different from previous years. The women’s side will feature a new coach for the first time in nearly two decades. With new recruits on both of the Dinos’s rosters, be sure to keep an eye out for these two teams as they are certain to impress this upcoming season.

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