The schools which have produced the two greatest men’s basketball dynasties in Canadian history meet this weekend as part of the annual Guy Vetrie Memorial Tournament on Ken and Kathy Shields Court at CARSA gym.
It has been a return to prominence for the 2023 national semifinalist University of Victoria Vikes, who won seven consecutive national championships in the 1980s under coach Ken Shields with rosters that included Olympians Eli Pasquale, Gerald Kazanowski and Greg Wiltjer. The Vikes’ last national title was in 1997 under the late coach Guy Vetrie, and was led by Eric Hinrichsen, who represented sa国际传媒 in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
The Vikes showed their recent resurgence by playing 2023 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team Xavier tough in an 80-68 loss to the Musketeers in August in the bdG Sports Tournament in the Bahamas before losing 103-77 to the Penn State Nittany Lions, who made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament last spring and produced Denver Nuggets second-round 2023 NBA draft pick Jalen Pickett.
“To be down only six points to Xavier with two minutes remaining was a confidence builder for our guys,” said UVic head coach Craig Beaucamp.
But while UVic’s pedigree is legendary in Canadian hoops circles, Carleton’s is off the charts. The Ravens have won 17 national championships since 2003, including the last four in a row, and 11 of the last 12.
“It’s a credit to their consistency,” said Beaucamp.
“They have had great continuity in their coaching staff and their culture and style of play has carried over and the players pick it up year to year. But we are getting closer and closer every year.”
The invitation to the Bahamas tournament was a sign of that. Most such opportunities regarding Canadian university basketball teams have gone to the Ravens, who are 43-57 against NCAA Div. 1 teams since 1999, according to Edilson J. Silva of BasketballBuzz.
This weekend will be UVic’s first games since the Bahamas.
“It’s good to play other teams after pounding on each other in practices,” said Beaucamp, whose summer included serving as assistant coach of the Canadian team that placed seventh in the 2023 FIBA U-19 World Cup in Hungary.
“These are three top-15 teams coming in [Carleton, Bishop’s Gaiters of Quebec and the University of Alberta Golden Bears] so this will be a good quality tournament and good quality test for all the teams.”
UVic plays Bishop’s tonight at 8, Carleton on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Alberta on Sunday at 2 p.m., all at CARSA.
UVic will also play in the Queen’s Tindall Invitational Oct. 20-22 in Kingston, Ont. The Vikes will open the sa国际传媒 West season at CARSA gym on Nov. 3-4 against the University of Calgary Dinos.
