Local friends in the spotlight at national championship
A ‘pretty cool story’ as two elite Waterloo Region players cap successful five-year run
They are the faces of their respective university basketball programs, two elite players who have represented Waterloo Region extremely well during the past five years.
Kitchener’s Javon Masters and Waterloo’s Dani Elgadi will put the finishing touches on stellar university careers this week in Halifax when the longtime friends participate in the U Sports men’s basketball championship.
The eight-team competition begins Thursday (11 a.m., ET) when Masters and his No. 6 New Brunswick Varsity Reds take on the No. 3 McGill Redmen.
Elgadi and the No. 7 Brock Badgers are up next (1 p.m., ET) at Scotiabank Centre against the No. 2 Calgary Dinos.
“Playing with Javon all my life, both against him and with him in AAU (Wildhawk Basketball), it kind of feels like the end of a movie,” Elgadi said Wednesday.
“It’s a pretty cool story, two local guys finishing their university careers in Halifax at the Final 8.”
Masters and Elgadi, who are both firsttimers at the U Sports national championship, renewed acquaintances Wednesday at a media conference to hype the event.
Masters, a six-foot guard, was on the podium with UNB head coach Brent Baker and Elgadi, a six-foot-seven forward, was front and centre with Brock head coach Charles Kissi. Masters is enjoying a storybook season with the Varsity Reds, who on Sunday captured the Atlantic University Sport conference championship with an 84-81 victory over the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.
The Forest Heights graduate scored 28 points in the final and the Varsity Reds won their second conference championship and first since 1967.
Masters led the nation in scoring for the fourth time in five seasons, averaging 24.5 points per game, and is the U Sports career scoring leader with 2,407 points. The previous mark of 2,282 was set by Boris Bakovic during four seasons at Ryerson and a fifth at Calgary.
Masters also led his team with 5.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game and last week was named conference MVP for the third time in the past four seasons.
“It’s a great way to cap off my career, finally wining an AUS title for my school,” said Masters. “We want to continue that here with a few more games and let everyone know the AUS is no pushover.”
In total, five players from Waterloo Region will compete in Halifax.
Fifth-year forward Adam Voll (St. Mary’s, St. John’s-Kilmarnock) and first-year guard Zubair Seyed (St. Benedict) play for the No. 5 Ryerson Rams and third-year forward TJ Lall (Galt) is with the No. 1 Carleton Ravens, who are trying to win an unprecedented eighth consecutive national championship.
Elgadi’s Badgers made it to the national championship as the lone wild-card entry. The Badgers fell to the Ryerson Rams in the semifinal round of the Ontario University Athletic playoffs but earned the invitation based on their 21-3 record during regularseason play.
Elgadi led the team in scoring (17.3 PPG), rebounds (9.3), blocks (1.7) and field-goal percentage (51.5) and was second in steals and assists.
The Waterloo Collegiate grad was named an OUA all-star for the fourth straight season after winning rookie of the year in 2014.
The Badgers enjoyed a productive shootaround Wednesday morning, said Elgadi, and hopes are high for a positive outcome against the Dinos.
The same two teams squared off during pre-season in Calgary and Brock left town with an 82-70 victory.
“I’m just trying to soak it all in ... just being out here in Halifax, it’s a beautiful city but at the end of the day it’s a business trip,” said Elgadi. “This is what I’ve worked for my entire career, it’s my fifth year and there’s no coming back, so I can’t take any moment or possession for granted.”
Masters offered a similar take as he looked ahead to McGill, a team that is making its fourth Final 8 appearance in the past five years. “We want to win a national championship for the school and for Coach Baker but whatever happens, it’s been a phenomenal run,” he said.
In Thursday’s other games, the No. 4 Alberta Golden Bears face Ryerson (5 p.m., ET) and Carleton takes on the No. 8 Acadia Axemen (7 p.m.). Semifinals and consolation semifinals take place Saturday, with the consolation final, bronze-medal game and gold-medal game slated for Sunday.
The semifinals (1 and 5 p.m., ET) and final (5 p.m., ET) will be aired on Sportsnet.