Todd Jordan is looking for a few good, and tall, men.
The head coach of the UNBC Timberwolves men's basketball team has begun the process of recruiting new players for the team's second season of Canada West basketball within the CIS. Last weekend, Jordan held an ID camp at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre where about 20 players from across British Columbia and a few from Calgary came out to show their skills.
"It's been one of the more competitive ID camps that we ever had," said Jordan about the two days of drills and mini scrimmages.
The T-wolves graduated four players - Jose Araujo, Francis Rowe, Joel Rybachuk and Sam Raphael - at the end of the 2012-13 season. The team finished with a 6-16 record in its first CIS season.
Jordan said he'd like to bring five or six new players to training camp next fall.
"We're just looking for guys that can do things on the court and that have a mental understanding of the game," said Jordan. "We're looking at the long-term development plan and for guys that are going to be here for a couple of years and help move us forward in the CIS."
After the ID camp was done, Jordan said he extended offers to play with the T-wolves next season to a pair of players from Calgary with post-secondary experience in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. Neither Edgar Ndayishimiye or Ibr Aden have officially committed to play for the T-wolves at this point, but, Jordan said he's hopeful both players will be on the bench for the 2013-14 season.
Jordan said the benefit to recruiting transfer students as opposed to players straight out of high school is they already know what to expect in college or university.
Aden spent the 2012-13 season playing for the Olds College Broncos in the ACAC where he averaged 19.8 points per game and added 63 rebounds in 18 games. Ndayishimiye also played in the ACAC last season with the SAIT Trojans where he averaged 17 points per game with three assists, three rebounds and three steals in a half season of college ball.
"I thought it was a great experience to come here," said Ndayishimiye. "It was a really competitive camp and we went hard at it."
Ndayishimiye said after trying the ACAC for a year he's ready to "take my talent a little bit further and go CIS."
The lessons the 20-year-old learned in half a season with the Trojans weren't all on the court as he discovered what many previous college students have - if you don't hit the books early it's easy to fall behind in class.
"It was my first year as a college player and I was kind of naive in a way but I learned from my mistakes," said Ndayishimiye. "I don't think that will be a problem any more. I just learned you've got to get on your business right off the bat and be committed as a student-athlete and put in the work at any given time, off the court and on the court.
"I've been taking classes trying to get my average back up," he said, adding he should be finished his coursework this summer. "I'll be ready to go in September."
Jordan said the T-wolves are looking for good athletes who want to be students.
"It's a university and we want academic people here," said Jordan. "Regardless of what their history is if they're going to come here they have to make a commitment to academic success."
Jordan is off to Vancouver this weekend for the first tryout for the men's under-17 basketball team, where he'll serve as head coach for Team B.C., that will compete at the 2013 Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Aug. 2-18.
"It's a good opportunity to get to know the top kids in the province and network with the coaches," he said.
Two years ago, Jordan coached the provincial under-16 team and last year coached the under-17 team to a bronze medal at the national championship.
