For the second time in six years, the nation’s basketball coaches have chosen someone who didn’t get his team into the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships as national player of the year. Trinity Western forward Jacob Doerksen, who averaged 20.8 points and 10.7 boards per game for a Spartans unit that tied for second in the Canada West Pacific division, duplicated the 2004 feat of Simon Fraser’s Pasha Bains by being named recipient of the Mike Moser Trophy. The native of Abbotsford, B.C. was the first Spartan to claim the Mike Moser memorial trophy since Trinity Western joined the Canada West conference in 1998-99. In his first campaign at Trinity Western after transferring from Victoria, where he played for two seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07, Doerksen played a major role in an impressive turnaround that saw the Spartans improve from 4-19 to 17-6 in conference play and capture bronze at the Canada West Final Four. A former CIS rookie of the year as a member of the Vikes, the sis-foot-six, 230-pound junior is the first player to claim both the Moser and Mullins trophies since Victoria’s Eric Hinrichsen, who earned a pair of CIS MVP nods in 1996-97 and 1998-99 after being named the nation’s top freshman in 1994-95. Doerksen finished third in Canada West scoring and first in rebounding this season averaging 20.8 points and 10.7 boards per game, making him the only player in the country to average more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per outing in conference play. The third-year business student finished the campaign in the Canada West top seven in six more statistical categories including second in field goal percentage (53.7), second in offensive rebounding (3.9 per game), third in defensive boards (6.7 per game), fourth in minutes played (35.9 per game), fifth in steals (2.3 per game) and seventh in blocked shots (1.1 per game). Doerksen had 13 double-doubles in points and rebounds in 19 conference duels, scoring a season-high 38 points against Saskatchewan on November 7. In the third match of the best-of-three Pacific Division semi-final series, he scored 24 points and grabbed a TWU single-game record 19 boards to lead the Spartans to an 87-85 over his former team, Victoria. “Jacob continually amazes me on his improvement,” said Trinity Western head coach Scott Allen. “He does so many intangibles that cannot be measured to strengthen our play, he strives for excellence on both ends of the court and is always willing to do what is best for the team.”
Carleton forward Rob Saunders was chosen Defensive player of the year. Saunders, from Kingston, Ont. is the first Carleton recipient of the defensive-MVP award since its inception in 2004-05. The six-foot-three guard and co-captain was the best defensive player on the best defensive team in the nation in his fifth and final university season. The second most utilized player on a very deep Ravens’ squad with 25.2 minutes of court time per contest, Saunders had 88 rebounds, 18 steals and nine block shots as Carleton kept the opposition to a CIS-low 63.3 points per game in conference play en route to a stellar 21-1 record and first place in the OUA East. The electrical engineering major also chipped in on offence with 7.91 points per outing and 39 assists, and kept a 40.3-percent success rate on three-point shooting. Saunders told the Ottawa Citizen that the award was entirely unexpected. “It’s pretty humbling, but I don’t think the coaches really selected me to win that award. It has got to be a recognition of our team defence. Me, personally, I don’t lead the league in steals or blocks, and if you look at me, I’m definitely not an elite type of athlete.” Ravens coach Dave Smart said Saunders “has worked hard over five years to be the guy that we’ve needed him to be. It’s definitely shows that the coaches in this country pay attention because he doesn’t have gaudy stats in terms of steals and blocked shots, but he gets it done.”
Brock’s Didi Mukendi of St. Catharines, Ont., was awarded the Dr. Peter Mullins trophy as rookie of the year. Mukendi is the first Brock player to be named CIS rookie of the year. The six-foot, 180-pound guard earned a spot in the starting lineup in his first season with the reigning national champion Badgers, who lost a number of star players to graduation following their championship run of 2007-08. He made the most of the opportunity finishing ninth in OUA scoring – first among OUA rookies – with a 16.5 point-per-game average, and becoming the first Brock freshman to lead the team in scoring since current head coach Ken Murray back in 1972-73. The kinesiology student also led the Badgers with 43 steals (fifth in the OUA) during the 22-game conference schedule and was second on the team in both rebounds (4.9 per game) and assists (2.9 per game). He was seventh in Ontario from the charity stripe finishing with a success rate of 80.6 percent on free throws. Mukendi joined the Badgers from Denis Morris High School in St. Catharines where he was a three-time SOSSA conference all-star and three-time team MVP, and was twice named his school’s male athlete of the year. “Didi had an excellent rookie season for us. He is a very athletic and highly skilled player who was able to step from high school to university basketball and make an immediate impact in the OUA and CIS,” said Murray. “Look for him to be one of the top players in the country the next few years.”
Carleton coach Dave Smart was named the Stuart W. Aberdeen Memorial Trophy winner for the third time in seven years after guiding the Ravens to a (33-1) campaign. A five-time OUA East coach of the year previously honoured at the CIS level in 2002-03 and 2004-05, Smart joins Alberta’s Don Horwood as three-time recipients of the Aberdeen trophy, one behind record holders Bruce Enns (UBC, Winnipeg) and Ken Shields (Victoria, Laurentian). In his tenth season at the helm, Smart has led the Ravens to yet another sensational campaign. Ranked first in the nation in 13 of 14 coaches’ polls in 2008-09, Carleton kept a CIS-best mark of 21-1 in conference play while leading the country both in offence (89.1 points per game) and defence (63.3 points per game), went 3-0 in the playoffs to capture the OUA title, kept a 33-1 overall record against CIS opponents, and enters the CIS championship as the No. 1 seed. An assistant coach with Canada’s national team, Smart has guided the Ravens to nine straight OUA East regular-season titles, five OUA championships and five consecutive W.P. McGee trophies as CIS champions between 2002-03 and 2006-07 – the second longest streak in CIS history. He has a lifetime record of 198-20 (.908) in conference play, with nine of these losses coming in his first season. His winning percentage over the past nine regular schedules is an astounding .944 (187-11). No one is sure where Smart keeps all his coach-of-the-year trophies, the Ottawa Citizen reported. He says they’re in the Carleton Ravens’ locker-room, but insists there isn’t a Dave Smart trophy case. One assistant says there’s a trap door in the floor of the Raven’s Nest leading to a palatial underground suite in which the trophies are centrally displayed. Smart denies that, but refuses to divulge where they are. “I’m not sure exactly where they are. They’re around some place.” Are they in a cardboard box somewhere? “I’m not getting quoted on where they are.” Who knows? “It’s a secret,” he said. “But the award is a real credit to our guys and what they’ve done.”
The All-Canadian
first team featured the MVPs of the nation’s five conferences: Doerksen (Trinity
Western – Canada West); Stuart Turnbull (Carleton – Ontario University
Athletics East); Greg Surmacz (OUA West); Damian Buckley (Concordia – Quebec);
and Christian Upshaw (St. Francis Xavier – Atlantic). …………………………………………………… Turnbull,
from Kingston, Ont. Carleton Ravens
fifth-year guard Stu Turnbull (Kingston, Ont.) is the 2008-09 East Division
Player of the Year. On a Ravens team that was ranked No. 1 in the nation for
the majority of the season, Turnbull led the team with 368 points (an average
of 16.7 per game), and was second with 60 assists and 27 steals. He also
contributed 111 rebounds, including 77 on defence. Turnbull headlines the list
of East Division First Team All-Stars, presented by Wilson Sports Equipment
Canada. …………………………………………………… Surmacz from Peterborough, Ont. Fifth-year Windsor
Lancers forward Greg Surmacz (Peterborough, Ont.) is the West Division Player
of the Year. Surmacz was among the division leaders in points per game once
again, averaging 19.7 points over 22 games. He was also one of the division’s
top rebounders, averaging 7.6 boards per game, and was second in the division
with 134 defensive rebounds. Surmacz also headlines the West Division First
Team All-Stars, presented by Wilson Sports Equipment Canada. The Lancers were among
the Top 10 nationally-ranked teams the entire season, finishing with a mark of
15-7, good for second place in the West Division. …………………………………………………… Upshaw,
a third-year point guard from Halifax, N.S. Upshaw, a third-year guard and the
2006-07 AUS Rookie of the Year, scored 19.1 points per game this season
including a 38-point game against the Cape Breton Capers where he established a
new StFX record for three-pointers made in a game with nine. Christian also led
the #5-ranked X-Men in assists (4.00 per game – 5th in AUS), free-throw
percentage (81.7 per cent – 6th in AUS) and three-point FG percentage (47.9 per
cent – second in AUS). “Christian had a phenomenal break-out year for the
X-Men,” comments head coach Steve Konchalski. “He ranks in the top 10 in the
AUS in every category except rebounding and blocked shots, amazing feats for a
5’10” point guard. He has done it all for the X-Men this year, leading us to a
first-place finish in the AUS and a consistent top 5 national ranking.” ……………………………………………………
Buckley, a fourth-year point guard from Montreal, Que. Damian Buckley of the
Concordia Stingers, a six-foot-one point guard from Montreal, is a unanimous
selection as the Quebec University Basketball League (QUBL) Player of the Year.
Buckley has been named to the QSSF first all-star team in each of his four
seasons. Despite being the focus of every team’s defence, Buckley was able to
put up superb numbers this season. He is third in the conference in scoring
with 19.0 points a game, and leads the league in both steals (3.7/game) and
assist-turnover ratio (1.8). Buckley is second in the province with 4.7 assists
per game, and third in three-point shooting (0.429).
The second team featured the 2008
Moser winner Aaron Doornekamp (Carleton); Dany Charlery (Brandon); Ross
Bekkering (Calgary); Phillip Nkrumah (Cape Breton); and Josh Gibson-Bascombe
(Ottawa). …………………………………………………… Doornekamp, a first team all-Canadian in 2008 and
a 2nd-team all-star in 2006, from Odessa, Ont. He scored 303 points on the season.
…………………………………………………… Gibson-Bascombe, a 4th-year guard from Toronto, was third
in the division in scoring averaging 17.6 points per game. He also had one of
the top field goal percentages at 51.1 percent as did Doornekamp at 49.8
percent. “It just shows how hard my coach (David DeAveiro) works and how hard
my teammates work every day to help make me the player I am,” Gibson-Bascombe told
the Ottawa Citizen. …………………………………………………… Charlery, a 4th-year guard from Montreal,
Que. …………………………………………………… Bekkering, a 4th-year forward from Taber, Alta. ……………………………………………………
Nkrumah, a third-year forward from Brampton, Ont. Nkrumah led the conference in
rebounding (11.3 rebounds per game) and was the only AUS player to average a
double-double this season. Conference defensive player of year. Nkrumah’s
season included a career-high 39-point outing against the StFX X-Men and a
league-best 10 double-doubles in regular season play. He also led the AUS in
steals (3.25 per game) and ranked fourth in the league in both assists (4.10
per game) and blocked shots (1.10 per game). The Capers allowed just 69.8
points per game this year, second only to Dalhousie.
Joining Mukendi on the all-rookie squad were Casey Fox (Acadia); Gregory St-Amand (UQAM); Sam Freeman (Fraser Valley) and David Tyndale (York). …………………………………………………… Fox, a guard from Halifax, N.S. Casey Fox (Halifax, NS) of the Acadia Axemen the 2008-09 Rookie of the Year. Casey led all freshmen in league scoring this season with 14.7 points per game, ranking him eighth overall in the conference. Fox also finished third in free-throw shooting (84.4 per cent) and seventh in 3-point field-goal percentage (43.0 per cent).
…………………………………………………… St-Amand, a guard from Laval, Que. Gregory
Saint-Amand of the UQAM Citadins was a unanimous choice as Rookie of the Year.
The 6’4” forward established himself as a key component of the Citadins’ squad
and dominated on both offence and defence. The Laval native and business
student was ninth on the QUBL scoring list with 12.6 points per game. The
20-year-old was also a force on the boards, with 7.0 rebounds per game (fourth
in the QUBL); while his 75% free-throw percentage is fifth in the league. On
and off the floor, the former Montmorency Nomade is noted for his intensity,
determination and his execution. …………………………………………………… Freeman, a guard from
Burnaby, B.C. …………………………………………………… Tyndale, from Mississauga, Ont. David
Tyndale (Mississauga, Ont.) of the York Lions is the East Division Rookie of the
Year. The guard was second on the team in points with 301, an average of 15.1
per game, as well as assists with 50. He also averaged 31 minutes in 20 games
played. Tyndale headlines the East Division All-Rookie team.