George Brown Huskies guard Vadim Halimov was named national player of the year. The 5th-year Uzbekistan native was the OCAA Player of the Year, had a 3.96 GPA, led the CCAA in scoring and broke three OCAA records; points per game (31.2), points (624) and free throws (162) in a season. “He’s strong for points, earned double-figures in rebounds, and also excelled in academics,” said Jeff Harris, CCAA men’s basketball convenor. Halimov was an all-star at three preseason tournaments and led the Huskies to a 15-5 regular season record. Halimov’s career total of 1,903 points is the new OCAA standard. The fifth-year forward was second in the OCAA with 211 rebounds and seventh among players with 40 steals. He was also named an OCAA East first-team all-star. The other candidates were Osman Barrie of the Crandall Chargers, Dominyck Coward of the Lethbridge Kodiaks, Brody Greig of the Langara Falcons and Tevonn Walker of the Vanier Cheetahs.
Red Deer coach Clayton Pottinger was named national coach of the year after leading the Kings to a 17-3 regular season title and the ACAC postseason title. “He’s improved the program every year, and brought it to a nationally elite level” said Jeff Harris, CCAA men’s basketball national convenor. Over three seasons, Pottinger has taken what was previously an unranked team and qualified for two CCAA national championships, twice earning the Fair Play award. They qualified for their third consecutive appearance at the nationals, a feat no Alberta team has achieved in over a decade, and only a handful of CCAA teams have ever accomplished. The other candidates were Trevor Costello of the Algonquin Thunder, Paul Eberhardt of the Langara Falcons, David King of the John Abbott Islanders and Ian McRae of the MSVU Mystics.
Joining Halimov as all-Canadians were: Osman Barrie (Crandall). Averaged 19 ppg and 10 rpg, while being named ACAA Player of the Year. He was also named a first-team ACAA all-star. …………………………………………………… Yonas Berhe (NAIT). The Ooks point guard was a first-team ACAC North all-star. …………………………………………………… Chase Bowden (Holland). The Hurricane guard averaged 20 ppg, 10 rpg and 2.6 spg, while twice being named the Hurricanes’ Athlete of the Week. He was named a first-team ACAA all-star. …………………………………………………… Dominyck Coward (Lethbridge). A two-time CCAA All-Canadian and ACAC Player of the Year led his team in scoring, rebounds, blocks and steals and was second in assists. Coward was in his second tour with the Kodiaks program. In 2010-11, he led the team to Silver in ACAC and CCAA. “If you were to ask other players the words, they would use to describe him are “Tough, Skilled, Relentless, Unselfish, Passionate, Dominating, Driven” to name a few. His all-around play elevates the play of his teammates. He’s willing to sacrifice his own desires for the good of the team and is always looking for ways to improve on his game. He’s humble and very coachable, and brings a great attitude into the dressing room,” said Kodiaks coach Ryan Heggie. ………………………………………………… Matt Fennell (Mohawk). The Mountaineer guard averaged 25.4 points, six rebounds and three 3-pointers per game, as well as reaching a season-high 44 points in a single match. He shot .521 from the field and was named an OCAA West first-team all-star. …………………………………………………… Brody Greig (Langara). The two-time PACWEST Athlete of the Year is now a two-time CCAA All-Canadian for the Falcons, who entered nationals as the top seed. He was named a first-team PacWest all-star. …………………………………………………… Brandon Jones (Vancouver Island). Jones appeared in all three of the PacWest’s stats categories, averaging 19.4 points a game and leading his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. He was named a first-team PacWest all-star. …………………………………………………… Alexandre Leclerc (Sainte-Foy). Ranked second in the Quebec conference in scoring and rebounding, and fourth in minutes played. He was named a first-team RSEQ all-star. …………………………………………………… Tevonn Walker (Vanier). The RSEQ Player of the Year led the conference in scoring with 20.8 points-per-game and 93 free throws. He was named a first-team RSEQ all-star while leading the Cheetahs to a (16-2) regular season title.