Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

There is something mesmerizing about watching a league, watching your favourite players play for their own teams throughout the season, and getting to an all-star game break and suddenly all of your favourite players are on the same floor playing the same game. The Pro Canadian Invitational filled a growing void in Canada with providing us with what you can call an all-star game for Canadian varsity talent. Some of the best graduating players from across Canada coming together to pay one game and provide fans with hours of fun competitive elite basketball.

The path to the pros for U SPORTS and CCAA players has expanded year by year with agencies signing more Canadian players and sending them internationally and to leagues like the CEBL to kickstart their professional career, and what the Pro Canadian Invitational represents is vital to that path, the ability to get your name and your game out to the agencies and professional teams.

From the open division games on Saturday to the showcase games on Sunday, you couldn’t find a moment where the competition and effort wasn’t there, and it truly showcased what Canadian basketball is and who we have in this country.

Screams after and-one plays, highlight reel moves that puts the bench in a frenzy, fire and passion in huddles, players cared and they had fun with it. You get the potential next wave of Canada’s professional basketball players, you put them on a court together and say just play, the energy and excitement that draws is infectious, and you could feel it. Looking at the women’s professional prospects game on Sunday, you had a taste of everything.

From former U SPORTS players like Tiya Misir and Melissa Tatti, to graduates who are already jumping into professional experience like Summer Pahl, sharpshooters like Jenna Button and top stars like MacKeely Shantz, the York gym was a who’s who of Canadian women’s varsity basketball.

You had moments where Carleton stars and champions Dorcas Buisa and Oceane Kounkou showcased the skill that got them their 2 U SPORTS national championships. You had a second half filled with the three-point shooting McMaster fans are well aware of from Jenna Button as she pulled up coming down the court lighting the gym on fire. You had momentous defensive stops on either end sparking energy from the benches. You had the speed and athleticism of TMU’s own Tiya Misir and Ottawa’s Ariane Saumure driving the hoop and getting to the foul line just as they did throughout their varsity career.

You had a highlight reel game from some of the best in U SPORTS and the CCAA, and you had it all under one roof on one court. What the Invitational does is important for showcasing the game both internationally and within our own country, and this past weekend marked another instalment of the best doing what the best does.