Chan De Ciman following in his siblings’ footsteps
Chan De Ciman isn’t concerned with being able to fill anyone’s shoes but his own.
Given his surname, the comparisons to his older siblings are a given. But the 15-year-old guard with the LeBoldus Golden Suns wishes he wasn’t just known as Joe De Ciman’s or Phoebe De Ciman’s little brother.
“I get that all the time,” Chan De Ciman said after his Golden Suns knocked off the Balfour Redmen 82-76 on Saturday night in the thirdplace game at the Balfour Basketball Classic. “I’m getting used to people calling me that, but I wish it was something different. I want to be known as Chan.”
It won’t be easy for Chan to escape the shadows cast upon him by his siblings. The youngest of six brothers and sisters, he knows he has his work cut out for him. Chan said he is probably closest to his brother Joe, who graduated from LeBoldus in June. Joe averaged 30 points per game in his senior season with the Golden Suns, to go along with 12 rebounds and six assists. He also was a threetime Regina Intercollegiate Basketball League all-star. Joe is a freshman with the Colorado State Rams men’s basketball team.
Phoebe, the oldest of the six siblings, was a member of the 2000-01 University of Regina Cougars team that won the Great Plains Athletic Conference championship and the CIS national championship. She ranks third all-time in Cougars history with 92 blocked shots.
Margaret De Ciman also starred on the basketball court. She played south of the border at Louisiana Tech University.
To be fair to Chan, he’s only in Grade 10. But his star is definitely on the rise.
“We try not to put too much pressure on him because I’m sure he feels it already,” said Chan’s coach with the Golden Suns, Wade Bartlett.
Bartlett also coached Joe throughout his high school hoops career. He said the comparisons are natural, but insisted Joe and Chan are different players.
“Joe, of course, did a phenomenal job for us,” Bartlett said. “He made some great passes and set up some great plays for us, but Chan can really see the floor well. (Chan) still has some maturing to do, and when he hits his Grade 12 year, he’s going to be something really special.”
Listed at 5-foot-11, Chan De Ciman is a natural point guard. He scored 17 points on Saturday and added eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. He was named a tournament all-star. Despite being the youngest player on his team and one of the youngest in the RIBL, Chan De Ciman isn’t fazed by his opposition. “I was in Grade 1 and Joe was in Grade 4 and we’d be on the same team all the time,” Chan said. “I’m fine with playing against older guys, bigger guys. I played one-on-one with Joe all the time, too.
“I got all of my basketball experience through my brother. He would go to the gym and work out, so I would go with him. He was a big mentor to me.”
He also was an excellent blueprint.
“Joe was aggressive and he’d attack all the time,” Chan explained. “That’s what I need to do more often. I can’t back down from one-on-one battles and just pass the ball away. I need to attack more.”
It’ll come, according to Bartlett.
“When we can free him up, Chan can really knock down the outside shot,” he said. “He’s young and he’s still learning, but we’re really excited to see him in the next couple of years.”
EXTRAS: The Evan Hardy Souls knocked off the Holy Cross Crusaders 79-73 in an all-Saskatoon senior boys final on Saturday at Balfour. Alex Unruh netted a gamehigh 32 points for the Souls. Emil Timon had 27 for the Crusaders ... Unruh was named the tournament MVP and his teammate Razvan Anca was selected to the all-star team. Other all-stars included Timon and Joseph Barker (Holy Cross), Ryan Delwo (Sheldon-Williams) and Mitch Jackson (Balfour).