Young Vikes hope to turn corner next season
The University of Victoria Vikes men’s basketball team has been mired in mediocrity the past two seasons. But the program seems at least pointed in the right direction after making the Canada West playoffs this season — losing in the first round over the weekend to the Lethbridge Pronghorns — after missing the post-season last year.
And memories can be short in sports. The Vikes made the CIS (now U Sports) national Final 8 each of the three seasons previous, including to the national Final Four in both 2013-14 and 2014-15. So that’s two down seasons after finishing top-10 in Canada for three consecutive years.
But Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp knows this is a demanding basketball market that once had the label “dynasty” attached to it and people will be expecting more as this young group UVic evolves.
“We want to get back to those [halcyon] days,” said UVic athletic director Clint Hamilton.
“We want to get the program back to where everyone expects. This community is full of alumni players who lived the culture that [former coach] Ken Shields established,” added Hamilton, who was one of them as a national championship Vikes player under Shields.
But there are no magic formulas. It is a process and a painstaking one.
“There are no quick fixes,” said Beaucamp. “It is going to take time. You can’t panic. You can’t just blow it up.”
The Vikes had only the standout import forward Grant Sitton from Washington state as a fifthyear player this season. Hassam Abdullahi is the lone fifth-year player for next season.
“Our young guys need to get bigger, stronger, faster and need to mature,” said Beaucamp.
“Our current group has to get better. We led in both of those playoff games in Lethbridge but ultimately there was a reason we lost. We have a good core and I like it, but we need help. We are small up front. To be honest, we need to add to the mix.”
Nothing is off the table, from anywhere in the world, say both Beaucamp and Hamilton.
“I would say 20 of the top-25 players in Canada West this season were internationals,” said Beaucamp.
Beaucamp noted the U.S. is the obvious source of basketball talent but also said Australia and New Zealand are two potential sources he is scouting. Hamilton concurred. “In Canada West now there is a strong blend of domestic and international,” said the UVic athletic director.
“That seems to be a big part of the mandate now of Canadian universities, and not just in athletics.”
Yet, the Vikes’ major import recruit for this season, Wayne Tucker Jr. from California, left the team at Christmas.
“Transfers are always a bit of an experiment. There are as many that work out as don’t,” said Beaucamp.
Former Vikes star Terrell Evans from Las Vegas and Washington state products Sitton and emerging UVic rookie point-guard Scott Kellum are imports who worked out well inside Ring Road. The leading scorers on the season for the Lethbridge team that beat UVic in the first round of the playoffs over the weekend were Elliott Sentance from Leicester, England, and Dejon Burdeaux from Oakland, California.
The top-five scorers in Canada West this season were Victoriaproduct Conor Morgan of the UBC Thunderbirds followed by the American array of defending conference MVP Thomas Cooper of the Calgary Dinos (Chattanooga, Tennesse), UVic’s Sitton (Brush Prairie, Washington), Thadius Galvez of the MacEwan Griffins (Washington Terrace, Utah) and Tyvon Cooper of the Brandon Bobcats (Middletown, New York).
“You need the right fit,” said Beaucamp.
Wherever they get the players, the Vikes’ brainstrust realizes the UVic roster needs to get dramatically bigger and better to compete at the top level of Canada West.
“We need to look at the opportunities we have and to focus and chart a course forward,” said Hamilton.