Victoria guard Diego Maffia was named recipient of the Mike Moser Memorial Trophy as national player of the year. The 4th-year 6-1 guard and humanities major from Victoria, B.C. (Oak Bay Secondary) was the Canada West player of the year, a first-team league all-star and the nation’s leading scorer. He started all 17 conference games he played, for an average 27.0 mpg. He hit 159-335 (.475) from the floor, 65-190 (.342) from the arc and 71-79 (.899) from the line, while garnering 49 boards, including 6 on the offensive glass and a 2.9 rpg, 88 assists, 49 turnovers, 26 steals, 1 block and 454 points, for a 26.7 ppg. He finished fourth in the league in assists per game (5.2). “Diego’s leadership and exceptional performance remain pivotal to our team’s success. Winning the Canada West Player of the Year award for two consecutive years is an outstanding achievement. Diego’s recognition as Player of the Year is a testament to his hard work, passion for the game, and relentless pursuit of greatness,” said Vikes coach Craig Beaucamp. The other Moser nominees were OUA player of the year Callum Baker (Toronto); RSEQ player of the year Kevin Civil (UQAM); and AUS player of the year Malcolm Christie (Dalhousie).
Carleton’s Xavier Spencer was named recipient of the Dr. Peter Mullins Trophy as national rookie of the year. A native of Antigua & Barbuda, the 6-1 guard and sociology & arts major from Calgary, Alta (Edge School) started He started all 22 regular season conference games, playing an average 27.0 mpg. He hit 102-262 (.389) from the floor, 33-115 (.287) from the arc and 63-78 (.808) from the line, while garnering 87 boards, including 12 on the offensive glass and a 4.0 rpg, 72 assists, 77 turnovers, 31 steals, 6 blocks and 300 points, for 13.6 ppg. Spencer led all uSports rookies in points, field goals, free throws, and assists. Ravens coach Taffe Charles said “we’ve asked many of these young guys. They’ve come in and played a lot of minutes. Very, very tough minutes. And they’ve responded well.” The other Mullins nominees were AUS rookie of the year Koat Thomas (St. Francis Xavier), RSEQ rookie of the year Willem Mwanza (Laval), and Canada West rookie of the year Easton Thimm (Saskatchewan).
Lukas Syllas of Queen’s was named national defensive player of the year. The 5th-year 6-2 guard and concurrent education major from Kingston, Ont. (Lasalle Secondary) was a first-team OUA all-star and the league’s defensive player of the year. He started all 22 regular season conference games, playing an average 29.8 mpg. He hit 144-322(.447) from the floor, 19-69 (.275) from the arc and 70-103 (.680) from the line, while garnering 131 boards, including 44 on the offensive glass and a 6.0 rpg, 55 fouls (fouling out once), 109 assists, 61 turnovers, 10 blocks, 47 steals and 377 points, for a 17.1 ppg. He finished 5th in the country in steals. The other national nominees were Javordo Mitchell (New Brunswick), Mcfadden Jean (UQAM), and Aaron Tesfagiorgis (Victoria).
Victoria’s Craig Beaucamp was named recipient of the Stuart W. Aberdeen Memorial Trophy as national coach of the year. In his 21st year at the helm of the Vikes, he steered them to the regular season title (17-3) and third third consecutive postseason crown. They were the nation’s leading scorers with a 92.0 ppg. He was named the Canada West coach of the year for the sixth time. A native of Burnaby, B.C., he graduated from the University of Saskatchewan, and then earned a Master of Education from Victoria, before coaching 9 years at Melfort High in Saskatchewan and guiding the provincial juvenile team in 1999 and 2000. He was coach U16 Canadian team that finished 2nd at the 2017 FIBA U16 Americas Championship. He was an assistant for the 2017 senior men’s national team for the 2017 FIBA Americup, an assistant with the Canadian junior team in 2006 and 2007, as well as an assistant for Canada at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. The other Aberdeen nominees were AUS coach of the year Jonah Taussig (Saint Mary’s); RSEQ coach of the year Rastko Popovic (Concordia); and OUA coach of the year Stephan Barrie (Queen’s).
Joining Maffia and Syllas on the All-Canadian first team were: Malcolm Christie (Dalhousie); Callum Baker (Toronto); and Nate Petrone (Calgary). …………………………………………………… Christie, a 3rd-year, 6-5 guard and commerce major from Fredericton, N.B. (Fredericton HS), was the AUS player of the year and a first-team all-star, as well as the MVP of the postseason conference tournament. He started 19 of regular season conference games, playing an average 32.8 mpg. He hit 135-321 (.421) from the floor, 79-217 (.364) from the arc and 94-105 (.895) from the line, while garnering 60 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass and a 3.0 rpg, 23 fouls, 32 assists, 33 turnovers, 12 blocks, 15 steals and 443 points, for a 22.1 ppg. He finished second in the league in scoring and broke the conference record for most treys in a campaign. …………………………………………………… Baker, a 4th-year, 6-2 guard and arts & sciences major from Oakville, Ont. was the OUA player of the year and a first-team conference all-star. Baker started all 21 regular season conference games he played, for an average 37.0 mpg. He hit 154-345 (.446) from the floor, 55-139 (.396) from the arc and 128-154 (.831) from the line, while garnering 102 boards, including 18 on the offensive glass and a 4.9 rpg, 36 fouls, 81 assists, 48 turnovers, 1 block, 34 steals and 491 points, for a 23.4 ppg. He finished tops in the league, and third in the country in scoring. He previously toiled for Bishop Walsh HS in Cumberland, Md., spent two seasons with NCAA division I Fairleigh Dickinson and a year with NCAA division I Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, before transferring back to Canada. …………………………………………………… Petrone, a 3rd-year, 6-2 guard and kinesiology major from Calgary, Alta (Bishop O’Bryne and subsequently Mount Royal University, was a first-team Canada West all-star. Petrone started all 20 league games, playing an average 35.0 mpg. He hit 137-269 (.509) from the floor, 41-112 (.366) from the arc and 99-116 (.853) from the line, while garnering 99 boards, including 11 on the offensive glass and a 5.0 rpg, 80 assists, 55 turnovers, 22 steals, 5 blocks and 414 points, for a 20.7 ppg.
The second team all-Canadians were: Dondre Reddick (St. Francis Xavier); Kevin Civil (U.Q.A.M); Taye Donald (Laurier); Brock Newton (Ottawa); and Brian Wallack (U.B.C.). …………………………………………………… Reddick, a 4th-year, 6-3 guard and arts major from Antigonish, N.S. (GTA Prep in Brampton, Ont.), was a first-team AUS all-star. He started all 20 regular season conference games, playing an average 29.1 mpg. He hit 116-283 (.410) from the floor, 26-82 (.317) from the arc and 80-96 (.833) from the line, while garnering 121 boards, including 35 on the offensive glass and a 6.0 rpg, 38 fouls (fouling out twice), 33 assists, 36 turnovers, 3 blocks, 24 steals and 338 points, for a 16.9 ppg. …………………………………………………… Civil, a 5th-year, 6-0 guard and management major from Montreal, Que. (Montmorency College and subsequently, uOttawa for two years before transferring to U.Q.A.M.) was the RSEQ player of the year and a first-team league all-star. He started 15 of the 16 regular season conference games he played, for an average 25.9 mpg. He hit 71-157 (.452) from the floor, 29-81 (.358) from the arc and 39-50 (.780) from the line, while garnering 51 boards, including 9 on the offensive glass, 26 fouls, 48 assists, 35 turnovers, 2 blocks, 26 steals and 210 points, for a 13.1 ppg. …………………………………………………… Donald, a 3rd-year, 6-2 guard and core science major from St. Thomas, Ont. (Potter’s House Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Fla.) was a first-team OUA all-star. Donald started all 20 regular season conference games he played, for an averaged 33.0 mpg. He hit 133-304 (.438) from the floor, 45-133 (.338) from the arc and 115-146 (.788) from the line, while garnering 84 boards, including 14 on the offensive glass and a 4.2 rpg, 50 fouls (fouling out twice), 82 assists, 50 turnovers, 5 blocks, 43 steals and 426 points, for a 21.2 ppg. …………………………………………………… Newton, a 4th-year, 6-7 forward and finance major from Fergus, Ont. (Central Wellington District HS, the Toronto Basketball Academy and Bucknell U in Lewisburg, Pa), was a first-team OUA all-star. He started all 22 regular season conference games, playing an average 30.1 mpg. He hit 165-294 (.561) from the floor, 0-4 from the arc and 44-84 (.524) from the line, while garnering 107 boards, including 29 on the offensive glass and a 4.9 rpg, 27 fouls, 55 assists, 36 turnovers, 15 blocks, 24 steals and 374 points, for a 17.0 ppg. …………………………………………………… Wallack, a 5th-year, 6-7 forward and kinesiology major from Surrey, B.C. (Semiahmoo Secondary) was a first-team Canada West all-star. He started all 18 games of the regular season conference games he played, for an average 31.2 mpg. He hit 114-223 (.511) from the floor, 13-35 (.371) from the arc and 98-140 (.700) from the line, while garnering 170 boards, including 59 on the offensive glass and a 9.4 rpg, 31 assists, 63 turnovers, 19 steals, 5 blocks and 339 points, for an 18.8 ppg.
Joining Spencer on the all-rookie team were: Koat Thomas (St. Francis Xavier); Willem Mwanza (Laval); Augustus Bradzeikis (Carleton); and Easton Thimm (Saskatchewan). …………………………………………………… Thomas, 6-6 guard and human kinetics major from Waterloo, Ont. (Royal Crown Academy in Toronto, Ont.) was the AUS rookie of the year. He started 14 of 20 regular season conference games, playing an average 26.5 mpg. He hit 65-162 (.401) from the floor, 4-32 (.125) from the arc and 31-54 (.574) from the line, while garnering 97 boards, including 45 on the offensive glass and a 4.8 rpg, 47 fouls (fouling out once), 23 assists, 48 turnovers, 5 blocks, 22 steals and 165 points, for an 8.3 ppg. …………………………………………………… Mwanza, a 6-3 guard (Sainte-Foy CEGEP and a native of Kasenyi, Congo) was the RSEQ rookie of the year. He started 6 of the 15 regular season conference games he played, for an average 20.3 mpg. He hit 36-80 (.450) from the floor, 6-21 (.286) from the arc and 22-31 (.710) from the line, while garnering 50 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass and a 3.3 rpg, 24 fouls, 21 assists, 25 turnovers, 6 blocks, 6 steals and 100 points, for a 6.7 ppg. …………………………………………………… Bradzeikis, a 6-7 forward and criminology major from Oakville, Ont. (New Horizon Academy in Burlington, Ont.) started and played in 20 of 22 regular season conference games, for an average 26.6 mpg. He hit 88-230 (.383) from the floor, 10-48 (.208) from the arc and 42-65 (.646) from the line, while garnering 155 boards and a 21.8 rpg, 23 assists, 41 turnovers, 11 steals, 6 blocks and 228 points, for an 11.4 ppg. …………………………………………………… Thimm, a 6-9 forward and business major from Saskatoon, Sask. (Holy Cross HS) was the Canada West rookie of the year. Thimm started all 20 league games, for a 22.1 mpg. He hit 73-134 (.545) from the floor and 49-83 (.590) from the line, while garnering 51 boards, including 169 on the offensive glass and an 8.4 rpg, 24 assists, 25 turnovers, 12 steals, 8 blocks and 195 points, for a 9.8 ppg. He led the conference in offensive rebounds, ranked sixth in total rebounds and third field-goal percentage.