There’s always holes to fill from one season to the next when university teams lose their veterans to graduation and this year the UNBC Timberwolves were left with huge crater with the departure of two of their most dependable mail-carriers, Tyrell Laing and Vova Pluzhnikov.
Both were brilliant as backcourt bookends and T-wolves’ record-setters - Pluzhnikov as the passing specialist with 278 career assists, Laing as the finisher with 1,280 career points – and there’s no telling who will be able to pick up the slack in the long run.
The T-wolves will have to start answering those questions Friday (8 p.m.) with they tip off a new U SPORTS Canada West men’s basketball season at the Northern Sport Centre against the Trinity Western Spartans.
With no Laing and no Pluzhnikov, the broad shoulders of fourth-year forward Spencer Ledoux will be asked to bear some of that weight. Nobody in Canada West was more accurate from the field with his shots (61.6 per cent) in 2021-22. The six-foot-seven native of Kamloops started 17 of the 18 games and averaged a career-high 12 points per game, third among T-wolves.
“We’re changed quite a bit without Ty and Vova and we’re a bit more athletic than we’ve ever been, which is good,” said Todd Jordan, now in his 13th season as T-wolves head coach.
“Spencer Ledoux is going to play a much increased role, and at the guards , Darren Hunter has really stepped up is playing at lot more minutes and playing quite well at the point, and I think Micah Jessie is going to be a big-time scorer for us.”
Spelling off Laing last season, Hunter averaged 9.5 minutes per game. His playing time will triple and expectations are high his point totals will reflect that for the second-year guard from Edmonton. Hunter posted a couple 20-plus point games in the pre-season tour in Saskatchewan and helped the T-wolves post a 4-5 record in exhibition play.
Justin Sunga (Burnaby), the quad-A provincial MVP in 2020 with the Burnaby South Rebels, will push Hunter for playing time. What he lacks in height, at five-foot-10, Sunga makes up for in wolverine-like feistiness and he will create excitement for fans this season at the Northern Sport Centre.
Also in the point guard mix is Quebec City native Yve Nsanzinshuti, who transitioned from high school to Champlain College Saint-Lambert and played the past two seasons at the CEGEP level, which doesn’t count against his five-year U SPORTS eligibility. He had a tibia stress fracture and missed most of the preseason and Jordan is anxious to see him in action against Canada West opponents
Watching Fareed Shittu and his leaping ability is worth the price of admission. He loves to defy gravity going up for a dunk and has the speed and tenacity to rack up rebounds. He led the T-wolves in that category with a 7.9 average. Now in his third U SPORTS season, the six-foot-six Shittu isn’t the only tall tree in the T-wolves’ thicket. Saymon Loki of Smithers stands six-foot-seven and is back for a second season. The forward fleet has added six-foot-five Ben Onyenosa, a University of Alberta transfer who moved from Prince George for Calgary as a Grade 8 student, and six-foot-seven Evgeny Baukin, the starting post the past two seasons with the Duchess Park Condors.
“The physicality and the speed is way quicker than what (Baukin is) used to but I think as the season goes on he’s going to become a pretty important factor for us,” said Jordan. “I like him because he’s pretty versatile. We can play him as a guard, we can play inside a bit, and he can switch ball screens and guard multiple people. The game is faster but he needs to slow down a little bit, he’s playing a little rushed and that happens with a lot of freshmen.”
Jessie averaged 21 points in his second season at Highline Community College and comes with a winning pedigree, having won a state high school championship at Garfield in Seattle. Onyenosa partially tore his Achilles tendon this summer and is not expected to recover until January at the earliest.
Shooting guard Chris Ross started 12 games and averaged 6.6 points last season and he’s looked upon as a vocal leader who specializes in defence. Jackson Netzel proved adept from three-point range, having filled in from the UNBC bench for 13 games in 2021-22. He’s familiar with Jordan’s strategies, as is Dylon Matthews, who joined the T-wolves in 2019. Rookie guard Cameron Lalli (Victoria) rounds out the T-wolves’ class of 2022-23.
“It’s going to be a fresh new start for a lot of guys in different roles,” said Jordan. “We’ve added eight new guys to the roster and it’s a really different look.”
The Canada West coaches’ pre-season poll pegs the T-wolves 14th on a list of 17 teams. Coming off a 6-12 season, UNBC hopes to end its postseason drought, having missed the playoffs the past two years.
Trinity got hot at the right time last season and upset Calgary in the playoffs and they’ll be bringing fifth-year point guard Mason Bourier, the Canada West career leader in triple-doubles who led the nation in assists last year (8.2 average) and was good for 15 points every game.
UNBC Timberwolves
(from Canada west.org)
2021-22 CW regular season record: 6-12 5th in West Division
2022 post-season record: 0-1
Head Coach: Todd Jordan, 13th season / 66-114
Last CW championship / total CW championships: none
Last U SPORTS championship / total U SPORTS championships: none
2021-22 CW regular season ranks:
Offence: 77.0 PPG, 11th
Defence: 70.9 PPG, 13th
2021-22 CW regular season leaders (returning):
Points/game: 12.0 – Spencer Ledoux, F
Assists: 1.1 – Spencer Ledoux, F
Blocks: 1.5 – Fareed Shittu, F
Rebounds/game: 7.9 – Fareed Shittu, F
3PT percentage: 33.3 – Jackson Netzel, G
Key additions (name / position / eligibility / hometown / last team):
Micah Jessie / G / 3 / Seattle, WA / Highline College
Evgeny Baukin / F / 1 / Moscow, RU / Duchess Park
Yve Nsanzinshuti / G / 1 / Quebec City, QC / Champlain
Justin Sunga / G / `1 / Burnaby, BC / Burnaby South
Key losses (name / position / hometown / years with program):
Tyrell Laing / G / Prince George, BC / 5
Vova Pluzhnikov / G / Kharkiv, UK / 5
Payton Tirrell / G / Woodinville, WA / 1
Key performer
Spencer Ledoux
F/4/Kamloops
2021 stats: (12.0 PPG / 1.1 APG / 0.3 SPG / 3.2 RPG / 50.0 3PT%)
