Extreme makeover for RDC Kings hoops
With a new coaching staff the RDC Kings basketball squad will naturally have a new look this season.
But that will also be the case on the floor.
The Kings bring only four players back from last year — guards Lloyd Strickland, Tyler Nygren and Jordan Stevens and forward Eric Bakker — along with former all-conference guard Adam Shaw, who took last season off.
“We don’t have a lot of size, but good average size and every single player is skilled,” said head coach Stef Labrecque, who took over from Craig Behan, who is on sabbatical at the University of Victoria.
“We never feel uncomfortable when any of our guys have the ball. They all can create plays with the ball. We’ll be fast and dynamic.”
The Kings tallest player is six-foot-six Jason Lowe of St. George, Bermuda, who is a member of the island’s national team.
“On a traditional team he would likely be a two guard, but with us he’ll do a few more things,” said Labrecque. “He’s an older player, who has already received a university degree in Atlanta. He’s a welcome addition to our team and a guy who works hard as he wants to start for his national team.”
Although the Kings have nine new faces on their 14-man roster they still have a lot of experience.
Outside of Lowe and Shaw, who is in his fourth season, they added third-year guard and former Mount Royal University Cougar Kendell Boese of Three Hills, fourth-year guard/forward R.J. Wells of Windsor, Ont., who played at the University of Windsor and second-year guard Jacob Cusumano of Windsor, who attended Valley City State in North Dakota last season.
“Kendell played with the Mount Royal national championship team and is a great leader while Jacob has that east coast mentality and a real bulldog, as are all the Windsor kids,” said Labrecque, who also has six-foot-four guard Stason Golden from the southern Ontario city.
“Golden is another guy who will be asked to play a lot of different positions,” said Labrecque, who has only six-foot-four Bakker and Lowe listed as true forwards.
Strickland returns as one of the only starters from last season, although Bakker saw a significant amount of action.
“Lloyd had a lot of success during the second half of last year and is pushing hard this year as he wants to take that step to the next level,” said Labrecque.
Other first-year players on the roster are guards Pedro Porto Alegre of Brazil, who played at Hunting Hills, Tyler Flaherty of Edmonton’s St. Francis Xavier, Kyle Devine of Notre Dame and Adam Glover of Hunting Hills, who sat out last year.
The biggest loss for the Kings was when six-foot-seven former University of Calgary forward Dominque Coward decided to attend Lethbridge College.
“We have no ill-will against him, He has friends there and you can’t blame him for that,” said Labrecque.
The Kings face their alumni today at 10 a.m. at RDC and will attend the Kings University College tournament next weekend. They will host the Sandman Classic in the middle of October in which they’ll face defending champion University of Northern B.C. from Prince George and the NAIT Ooks, who are expected to be a power in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
• The RDC teams open their season Oct. 22 at Briercrest . . . Jamie Brown and Ed Major are assistant coaches.
drode@reddeeradvocate.com
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