The new era of University of Victoria Vikes basketball begins tonight in the high performance gym of the $77-million CARSA complex, which opened in May.
鈥淎t McKinnon, we followed all the great history that came before us. At CARSA, we get a fresh canvas to paint our story on. All the history is in front of us, and we get to make it,鈥� said Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp.
鈥淭here is a lot of excitement around that.鈥�
The opening tournament is the men鈥檚 Guy Vetrie Memorial, named for the former Vikes men鈥檚 coach who guided UVic to the 1997 national title.
A special night calls for a special opponent. For the occasion, the Vikes have brought in the Carleton Ravens, winners of 11 of the past 13 CIS national championships. The Vikes and Ravens meet tonight at 8 in a game that is sold-out. The Vetrie tournament opens with the Saskatchewan Huskies playing the Fraser Valley Cascades at 6. p.m. in the first game to be played in CARSA.
鈥淚t鈥檚 only fitting that our first opponent should be Carleton,鈥� said Beaucamp.
鈥淭hey have been the dominant team in sa国际传媒 for over a decade.鈥�
The Ravens will be without graduated star Phil Scrubb and coach Dave Smart, who were both part of the Canadian team last month at the FIBA Americas qualifying tournament for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
With Smart, national team assistant to Jay Triano, taking a year鈥檚 sabbatical from Carleton, Ravens assistant and Dave鈥檚 nephew, Rob Smart, takes over as Carleton bench boss for this season.
鈥淐arleton will be very good again,鈥� warned Beaucamp. 鈥淭hat engine just keeps on ticking.鈥�
Perhaps it鈥檚 only fitting, and maybe even uncanny, that UVic unveils with the new CARSA era what is being hailed as the greatest class of home-grown Island recruits since the Kazanowski brothers came out of Nanaimo and Kelly Dukeshire from Oak Bay in the 1970s and Olympian Eric Hinrichsen out of Campbell River in the 1990s. Freshman Graeme Hyde-Lay and Jason Scully are out of St. Michaels University School, Joshua Charles from Cowichan Secondary and Tyrus Barfoot from Nanaimo District.
Key returnees for the Vikes include defensive standout Reiner Theil and Grant Sitton, the latter who recorded some breakout playoff performances last spring as the Vikes reached the CIS Final Four for the second consecutive year. Returning for his fifth season, after an absence, is 27-year-old guard Brandon Dunlop.
鈥淏randon brings the kind of leadership that will be huge for our developing, young group,鈥� said Beaucamp.
Point-guard Marcus Tibbs will not return for this fifth season but fellow-American and newcomer Derrick Twiggs from Inglewood, California, looks to be an able replacement. Beaucamp is also optimistic about six-foot-seven forward Billy Yaworsky of Winnipeg, a sophomore transfer from Skagit Valley College.
Along with the tournament named for Vetrie, other echoes of the past remain in CARSA with the gym surface officially named Ken and Kathy Shields Floor in honour of the former UVic coaching legends who guided the Vikes men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball team to seven and eight national titles, respectively.
There will be a passing-of-the-torch type ceremony before the UVic-Carleton game, from past men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 UVic hoops greats, to current Vikes captains Theil and Jenna Bugiardini.
The Vikes continue the Vetrie tournament against Saskatchewan on Saturday at 7 p.m. and versus Fraser Valley on Sunday at 2 p.m. In other games, Fraser Valley plays Carleton at 3 p.m. Saturday while Saskatchewan meets Carleton at noon Sunday.
The four participating teams were all elite last season. UVic defeated Fraser Valley in the semifinals and Saskatchewan in the final of the sa国际传媒 West Conference Final Four playoff tournament in the spring.
