BC college basketball rivals UBC, SFU keeps it in the family

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They haven’t faced each other since 2015, but Saturday’s exhibition game between Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds men’s basketball teams is already rich in history and connections.

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Kevin and Theresa Hanson are principles among that. The wife is the athletic director of SFU Burnaby. The husband is the head coach of the Point Gray T-Birds.

“I was debating trying to take the fifth if there were any questions about it,” Kevin said cheerfully, “but we talked about it and I told Theresa I couldn’t talk to her at the pre-game gym or post-game gym I told her I would see her at home that morning and see her at home that night.

The couple, who met when they were assistant coaches of SFU’s men’s and women’s teams in the late 1980s, then worked together at Langara and UBC before Theresa took on the AD position at SFU in October 2015, has plenty of company when it comes to side stories related to UBC’s trip to SFU’s West Gym on Saturday (7:30 p.m.).

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UBC assistant coach Novell Thomas was a star SFU goaltender. His fellow UBC assistants, Dany Charlery and Sean Shook, worked under the guidance of current SFU coach Steve Hanson (no connection to UBC or SFU AD coach) before signing with the UBC.

UBC stars second-year guard Jack Cruz-Dumont. SFU versus with his younger brother Hunter Cruz-Dumont, a first year guard. Both stood out in high school at Vancouver College.

“Nobody told him anything about it. He will have a chance to face his brother. You don’t have to exaggerate it for something like that, ”SFU senior forward Jasdeep Singh said of young Cruz-Dumont.

Steve Hanson added, “We have recruiting battles every year. We know each other’s players. Lots of guys have played club basketball together over the years. There are a lot of links between the two teams.

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A press release from SFU earlier this week said nearly 900 tickets had been pre-sold for the UBC game.

SFU and UBC teams in various sports played regularly when both sports programs were members of the Canada West Conference, but it became more difficult to plan games after SFU moved to the NCAA Division. II in 2010. SFU was a member of the NAIA before coming to Canada West, and they would play at UBC then as well.

Men’s basketball programs played for the Buchanan Cup every year. The rivalry between the schools dates back to 1965 when they first clashed.

UBC (8-1 overall, 6-0 Canada West) has a conference pass this weekend. They only play against teams from British Columbia in Canada West this season as part of a return to action after last season’s COVID-19 pandemic stopped at the conference. This open weekend helped set up the game against SFU (1-2 overall, 0-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference).

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Steve Hanson admits that this is a “unique year”. He also seems excited about resurrecting an annual showdown.

“You look at what Carleton and Ottawa have done,” he said, highlighting the annual Hoops Capital Classic between rivals in the Ottawa area that has been going on since 2007. “Carleton has the best record, but they have pushed these matches where they regularly attract 8,000 to 10,000 people. It’s good for basketball in their province.

“As a player who grew up here you knew watching SFU and UBC play was a huge rivalry. SFU and UBC are the two largest schools in this province. We both have a lot of pride and a lot of tradition in our sports programs. Saturday will be a big basketball game in our province. Hope we can give people a good show.

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Singh added, “UBC has some good big ones. They have guards who have proven they can score. It’s a good match-up for us. I don’t know if we have faced a team that shoots the ball as well as UBC does.

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UBC defeated visit SFU 101-71 on October 27, 2015, at War Memorial Gym, the last time the teams met. Kevin Hanson had the score memorized, which says a lot about the rivalry itself.

“This is the one I didn’t have to look for,” he said.

Prior to this meeting, the last game between SFU and UBC was on March 6, 2010, when UBC claimed a 78-68 victory at the War Memorial in the Canada West playoffs.

SFU was supposed to play center Washington at home on Friday, but that game was called off Wednesday due to what SFU called “an abundance of caution for the health and safety of student-athletes and staff” in a statement. hurry. The Washington center also canceled games with Capilano and Langara this weekend.

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