Fanshawe men dominate summer courts
School wasn't in session, but some members of Fanshawe were out on the basketball court teaching a lesson.
Fanshawe took centre stage at the Toronto venue of the NBA 3-on-3 Baller's Unite Basketball Tournament in late July this past summer. A team full of Fanshawe connections won the tournament, and were led by current Fanshawe player Jabari Cooper, Morgan Fairweather, who works at Fitness 101 at the college and played for Brock University, Pat Sewell, a Former Fanshawe Men's intercollegiate team basketball player who was a CCAA All-Canadian and West Region First Team All—Star last season and Kevin Stienstra a former player at Brock University.
And it wasn't just special that a group of players with Fanshawe ties won the tournament, it was who they faced in the finals as well. Manny Campbell, Matt Fennell and Mike King are all current members of the Men's basketball program at Fanshawe. An all-Fanshawe final is something to get excited about and it speaks volumes about the program that is being run at the college, and the talented players it has produced, especially in the last few years.
“The outlook for the season, and the way that it makes the Fanshawe basketball program look is just awesome,” said Cooper. “When you're in a tournament this big, with as many players as there was and a group from Fanshawe makes the finals on both side,s it's definitely encouraging to know your team is looking good for the season ahead.
“Anything less then a OCAA championship will be considered a failure to us, we won the championship two years ago and we didn't do as well as he had hoped at Nationals so our objective right now is to just do as well as we can and just get back to the Nationals in British Columbia.”
And you better believe that winning in the finals meant a lot more then just a championship crown.
“It was way more competitive, you never want to lose to people you know, it's all about the bragging rights after,” explained Cooper, who won the OCAA Rookie of the Year honours for Fanshawe back in March of 2007.
The NBA 3-on-3 Ballers Unite Tournament travels across Canada each year to bring out the best the Great White North has to offer in shooters, dribbler's and passers. The tournament makes stops in Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, London, Montreal, Moncton and the biggest stop on the tour, Toronto.
Cooper is already getting excited for next year when they will head back to Toronto and defend their championship.
“Yeah, we'll be back to defend the title, and see what the competition is like next year, it should be fun.”
Fanshawe took centre stage at the Toronto venue of the NBA 3-on-3 Baller's Unite Basketball Tournament in late July this past summer. A team full of Fanshawe connections won the tournament, and were led by current Fanshawe player Jabari Cooper, Morgan Fairweather, who works at Fitness 101 at the college and played for Brock University, Pat Sewell, a Former Fanshawe Men's intercollegiate team basketball player who was a CCAA All-Canadian and West Region First Team All—Star last season and Kevin Stienstra a former player at Brock University.
And it wasn't just special that a group of players with Fanshawe ties won the tournament, it was who they faced in the finals as well. Manny Campbell, Matt Fennell and Mike King are all current members of the Men's basketball program at Fanshawe. An all-Fanshawe final is something to get excited about and it speaks volumes about the program that is being run at the college, and the talented players it has produced, especially in the last few years.
“The outlook for the season, and the way that it makes the Fanshawe basketball program look is just awesome,” said Cooper. “When you're in a tournament this big, with as many players as there was and a group from Fanshawe makes the finals on both side,s it's definitely encouraging to know your team is looking good for the season ahead.
“Anything less then a OCAA championship will be considered a failure to us, we won the championship two years ago and we didn't do as well as he had hoped at Nationals so our objective right now is to just do as well as we can and just get back to the Nationals in British Columbia.”
And you better believe that winning in the finals meant a lot more then just a championship crown.
“It was way more competitive, you never want to lose to people you know, it's all about the bragging rights after,” explained Cooper, who won the OCAA Rookie of the Year honours for Fanshawe back in March of 2007.
The NBA 3-on-3 Ballers Unite Tournament travels across Canada each year to bring out the best the Great White North has to offer in shooters, dribbler's and passers. The tournament makes stops in Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, London, Montreal, Moncton and the biggest stop on the tour, Toronto.
Cooper is already getting excited for next year when they will head back to Toronto and defend their championship.
“Yeah, we'll be back to defend the title, and see what the competition is like next year, it should be fun.”
