Rawlyk does double duty with Rattlers, Huskies
Rawlyk will again be top man for CEBL team, and head coach for Huskies
Barry Rawlyk is back on board as general manager of the Saskatchewan Rattlers.
Rawlyk enters his second season as the Rattlers' GM and his third season with the Canadian Elite Basketball League club after serving as the lead assistant coach during the team's 2019 CEBL championship season.
The 2020 season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced to a CEBL Summer Series bubble format in the east, but there's reason to be optimistic, as vaccines continue to be rolled out, that the 2021 season could once again include home games.
“We've been through the unknown and we're still headed into the unknown, somewhat,” admitted Rawlyk.
“But the league, CEBL office, has done a very good job in providing some direction in terms of where they want to be going. That made the decision (to return as GM) a little bit easier, the fact that they were able to provide a vision for where the league was going to be headed this year.”
The CEBL recently released its 2021 schedule, set to begin on June 5.
The Rattlers are scheduled to begin their 2021 season at home on June 7 against the reigning 2020 CEBL champion Edmonton Stingers.
“We see the trajectory of the talent in the league is definitely skyrocketing,” said Rawlyk. “From year one to year two, it significantly got better and it's getting even better again this year. It's going to provide a very entertaining and competitive league.”
The Saskatchewan squad has begun assembling its roster for the upcoming season, announcing the re-signing of Canadian guard Kemy Osse and the signing of fellow Canadian Nick Madray, a veteran 6-foot-9 forward who has plenty of pro experience overseas in Europe with stints in Poland, Spain and the U.K.
“That's a process right now that we're underway with, and it's well underway,” said Rawlyk.
Rawlyk will continue to lead the basketball operations department for the Rattlers as they seek a second championship in three years.
Rawlyk continues to double dribble, also serving as head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's basketball team.
He took over the helm, in an interim position, during the 201011 season and was officially named head coach in May 2012.
“It's kind of a different market out there because there's a whole bunch of players that were scheduled to play in Europe or were in Europe and had their seasons cancelled (because of the pandemic) or with the (NBA) G League not running a regular season but kind of a shortened bubble season has created a whole new dynamic in terms of player availability,” noted Rawlyk, who spent two decades coaching at Holy Cross high school in Saskatoon, where he led the Crusaders to 11 city basketball titles, before joining the Huskies.
“It's been very different that way, but I think there's a lot of eagerness for players to return to the CEBL.”
The Rattlers are scheduled to open training camp May 28 in Saskatoon.
“So it'll be a fairly brief training camp, a six-day training camp, and then into games,” said Rawlyk, who expects that, in a typical CEBL season, a team will turn over roughly half its roster.
“There's a lot of moving parts to this and we'll see where it goes, but we anticipate that there will be a number of key guys back.
“One thing about the bubble situation is that you're in such close confines and in a bubble for an extended period of time, which you might not get during a regular season, but you really get an insight into the character of the guys and dynamic of the team.
"So in a way that bubble situation we were in last year was very telling and we learned a lot.
“Based upon that, some personnel decisions will be made and have been made, and we're just in the process of trying to finalize those things.”