Former Olympians Kelsey, Sargent take centre court
Canadian basketball greats to be honoured during NCAA tournament at CARSA
The Greater Victoria Invitational at CARSA gym, featuring eight NCAA women’s basketball teams from the U.S., will be punctuated by a quintessentially Canadian moment at halftime of tonight’s 7:30 semifinal game.
That’s when Olympians Howard Kelsey and Joanne Sargent will be inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Ken and Kathy Shields Court conducted by Canada Basketball CEO and president Glen Grunwald.
“It comes full circle for me because I was a gym rat at UBC War Memorial Gym when Kathy Shields and Joanne Sargent played for UBC and Ken Shields coached the Thunderbirds,” said Kelsey.
Kelsey later became UVic assistant athletic director from 1983 to 1990 under director Shields in an era in which Vikes athletes produced 13 national basketball championships, 63 Olympians over several sports and 16 Olympic medallists.
“Victoria is my second home and it’s pure serendipity to be inducted here,” he said.
Kelsey and Sargent are both also in the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.
“Each one is different,” said Kelsey, who played pro in Mexico for many years.
“The B.C. Sports Hall is special because it’s your province and all the sports within it. The Canadian Basketball Hall is special because it’s for the particular sport I played and love and it’s in the country that invented basketball.”
Kelsey is a two-time Olympian with the highlight being the fourth-place finish for Canada at the 1984 L.A. Summer Games with former UVic stars Eli Pasquale, Gerald Kazanowski and Greg Wiltjer.
“We matched the Canadian team that finished fourth at the 1976 Montreal Olympics [with Billy Robinson of Chemainus],” said Kelsey.
After the sixth place finish at 1988 in Seoul, the Canadians never got back to the Olympics in men’s basketball until Sydney 2000 under captain and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash of Victoria.
“Now we have high hopes again for Tokyo 2020 with the Olympic qualifier next year right here in Victoria,” said Kelsey, who is a key organizer of this weekend’s Victoria NCAA Invitational.
“So, this is such a full circle for me in so many ways.”
Sargent came out of Salmon Arm and played for Canada in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, two Pan Am Games and two FIBA world championships and laid the early foundation for Canada’s current world top-five ranked women’s national team.
“We played at UBC, and on the national team for five years, and travelled the world together,” said UVic coaching legend Kathy Shields.
“Joanne’s intensity and competitiveness made her special. She was an incredible passer, playmaker and defensive player who never quit.”
ON THE COURT: The women’s Victoria Invitational opened Thursday at CARSA with the quarter-finals. Green Bay defeated Bowling Green 73-54 and NCAA No. 10-ranked Mississippi State crushed the University of San Francisco 73-36.
No. 18-ranked Syracuse rolled to an 86-63 win over Houston, while No. 3 Stanford got past Cal Baptist 83-78 in the late game Thursday.
The consolation side games today are at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. with the championship semifinals at 5 p.m. and 7:30.
Games go all day Saturday with the championship game at 7:30 p.m.