A new era dawns Friday for the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves men's basketball team.
When the T-wolves take to the Northern Sport Centre court for their game with Christian Bible College at 8 p.m. it'll be the first time in three seasons without point guard Inderbir Gill, the Canadian College Athletic Association player of the year last season.
"It's not something we dwell on it's just a part of moving forward," said Todd Jordan, heading into his second year as head coach of the men's team.
The T-wolves have 16 players on their roster this season, but two D.P. Todd Secondary graduates -- Andrew Whittaker and Ethan Bhangu -- are expected to red shirt this season. A red shirt is a player on the team but doesn't dress for games, therefore, saving their five years of eligibility.
Two other players, Josh Raphael and Jai Kaushai, both former Trojans, will rotate in the lineup as the 13th and 14th men.
Last season, the T-wolves were the British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association, now PACWEST, runners-up for the provincial championship, but earned a wild card entry into the CCAA national playoffs in Oshawa, Ont., where they placed fifth in the country.
"This year the goals are the same, go out and try to win the provincial tournament and try to win the national tournament," said Jordan. "We've got a pretty talented team. I think we've got a team that can do it."
Gill is no longer with the T-wolves, but the team has six veteran players back to lead the team this season.
Coach Jordan said he's counting on a trio of players to step up to provide leadership in Gill's absence -- Sam Raphael (fourth year); Dennis Stark (fifth year); and Francis Rowe (fourth year).
"It doesn't have to be one guy that steps up and does it, but as a group we want to count on that leadership," said Jordan.
During their eight preseason games, the T-wolves opened with four wins, but dropped their last four games, including a pair last weekend.
"All kinds of weird stuff happens in preseason because teams are figuring themselves out," said Jordan. "This last weekend we had a little bit of a blip on the map, but it'll be a good learning experience for us -- something that we've been able to look at on film and will be able to address in practice this week. The fixes aren't major fixes but if the guys buy into what we're trying to do we'll be OK."
Jordan said the T-wolves are "a bigger, longer and more athletic" team then the one that has suited up at UNBC in the last couple of seasons.
Saturday, when the T-wolves face off with the Douglas College Royals a familiar face will be on the across from them -- guard Harmeet Mahal, who played at UNBC last season. The T-wolves and Royals tip off at 8 p.m.
Christmas in the 'Peg
After talking about it for a few season, the T-wolves will head to Winnipeg for the annual Wesmen Classic men's basketball tournament at the University of Winnipeg.
The university and high school portion of the 45th Wesmen Classic goes from Dec. 27 to 30.
Former UNBC men's coach Mike Raimbault coaches the Wesmen men's team now and invited Jordan, his former assistant coach, to bring the T-wolves to the eight-team tournament.
"It'll be good at Christmas to go out and play high calibre teams and really give us a little bit of a trial by fire," said Jordan, referring to the fact the T-wolves will move into the Canada West Conference with the Wesmen next season.
