Scott Kellum goes into today’s sa国际传媒 West men’s basketball game against the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack at CARSA Gym, the final regular-season home game of his career, having written his name into the University of Victoria Vikes record book.
The fifth-year standout has proven himself a worthy heir to former UVic point-guards, such as Robbie Parris and the late two-time Olympian Eli Pasquale, by setting the Vikes record for career three-points made with 205, one more than Ryan MacKinnon’s previous standard of 204.
“It is a testament to Scott Kellum’s consistency,” said UVic head coach Craig Beaucamp.
“He has played a role all through his career [Kellum was sa国际传媒 West rookie of the year as a freshman]. So there’s a real Ironman aspect to this.”
Kellum is seventh on the Vikes career scoring list with 1,226 points in 93 regular-season games. The record is held by Spencer McKay at 1,657 points, with Olympian Eric Hinrichsen second at 1,586, and is out reach with three games remaining. But Kellum will comfortably tuck himself into the franchise all-time top-10.
“I’ve had a lot of teammates around me who helped me get there,” says Kellum, who is from Issaquah, Washington.
His legacy will live on.
“Scott has been a mentor to me,” says starry sophomore shooting-guard Diego Maffia, who will inherit the UVic backcourt mantle from Kellum.
“His play is so crisp and calm and he never gets rattled or loses his cool and I learned a lot from that.”
The Vikes, ranked in the U Sports national top-10, swept the University of Fraser Valley Cascades over the weekend in Abbotsford to move to 14-1 in sa国际传媒 West. The Cascades dropped to 9-9. Thompson Rivers is 4-12 coming into CARSA Gym this evening for the 5 p.m. game. It is believed to be the first Tuesday night game in Vikes history and is part of the numerous sa国际传媒 West games that are being made up after they were earlier postponed due to COVID protocols.
“There’s no road map for this,” said Beaucamp.
“There’s a physical factor with so many games in so few days but the mental part is the biggest challenge. This is foreign territory, so you just simplify your game plan.”
There is a short turnaround to the regular-season concluding games Thursday in Kelowna against UBC-Okanagan and Saturday in Prince George against the University of Northern sa国际传媒 Timberwolves. The playoffs begin the following week with Calgary and Lethbridge hosting the opening round.
The UVic Vikes women’s team (9-7) concludes its sa国际传媒 West regular-season Thursday at UBC-Okanagan and Saturday at UNBC.
