Ottawa Ontario is not only the capitol of Canada, but it has also become the capitol of CIS basketball (Canadian Intercollegiate Basketball). Its two major universities, University of Ottawa Gee-Gee’s and the Carleton Ravens, have dominated the basketball landscape for more than a decade. Admittedly, the Carleton Ravens have traditionally been the more dominant school. Lately though, Ottawa has shown a growing basketball program and are not only competing, but beating the once unrivaled Carleton Ravens. Only minutes away, Ottawa and Carleton have become the North Carolina and Duke of Canadian basketball.
These two schools are the epicenter of Canadian basketball and represent the growth of the sport in the country. Carleton basketball alumni litter the Canadian national team, this includes regulars Aaron Doornekamp and Phil Scrubb. It has been difficult for fans of the Gee-Gee’s to watch their cross-town rivals have so much success over the years, capturing 11 CIS titles since 2003 to go along with 9 OUA trophies. Fortunately for Ottawa, their Coach James Derouin has brought a new mentality since joining the program in 2010. It started with the recruitment of Ottawa native Johnny Berhanemeskel who wrestled the national player of the year trophy in his fifth year from Carletons Phil Scrubb last season.
Behind the scoring of Johnny-B, which he is known as by Ottawa fans, the Gee-Gees captured only their second OUA title in the 2013-14 season and have met their arch-rivals in the CIS finals the past two seasons; losing both miserably. The rivalry has not died after the departure of three time CIS player of the year Phil Scrubb from Carleton and Johnny Berhanemeskel to professional teams in Europe. Players from both sides have stepped up, particularly Uottawa fifth year guard Mike L’africain who won OUA Player of the Year and CIS Player of the Year. On the back of players like L’africain, Caleb Agada (who won Defensive Player of the Year) for Ottawa and Wood and Kajami-Keane for Carleton these two teams are once again on top of the basketball scene in Canada and look likely to meet in the national finals for the third straight season.
Head Coach Dave Smart has noted that the rivalry has intensified over the last few years as Ottawa has continued to improve; stating in an interview “They have been good for ten years and lately have been one of the top teams in the country. A rivalry isn’t a rivalry if one team dominates the whole time, no matter how close two schools are. The fans have really started to get into it, especially in the smaller gyms, everything is so personal and up close with the fans”. The rivalry has continued this year, with Carleton and Ottawa meeting in the semi-finals of the OUA Championships, Carleton just squeaked out a win over the Gee-Gee’s. The two squads look poised to both make a run for the CIS title again this year and could feasibly meet in the finals for the third straight season.
Coach Smart has been a part of the Carleton Ravens coaching staff for 12 years now and says he has really seen the development of the game north of the border “The biggest thing has been the investment of money and resources into the sport. The facilities are now all state of the art and we [Carleton] have the opportunity to play better competition. A number of NCAA teams come to Canada to play warm-up games which we [Carleton] have fared well in”. These NCAA match-ups are not small DII schools, a lot of quality teams have come up North including Memphis, Syracuse and Indiana. How well have these two specific CIS teams fared? In 2014 the two major programs that came to Canada were Indiana and Memphis. Indiana lost to Ottawa 109-101; while The Ravens beat Memphis twice. It is not hard to imagine either the UOttawa Gee-Gee’s or the Carleton Ravens playing Division I ball in the United States. Because of more funding, new personnel being implemented into schools, and better competition to test themselves the CIS has become a much more competitive and difficult league to play in. “Every team is different and you can never go into a game making assumptions about other teams. Of course there are some programs like Ottawa, Mcmaster, Ryerson, UBC and Alberta that are a little more established, but every single team we play pose a new challenge” Smart said on the parity within the CIS.
This can also be attributed to more and more Canadians staying in the CIS instead of going to the NCAA. It has been proven possible for players to become professionals without leaving the country. No longer do they have to travel south of the border, to a different culture, on a gargantuan campus, away from their friends and family. Not only that, but Canadian Universities do not have an hourly limit on practice time per week like the NCAA does. A Canadian player can get as much 1-on-1 coaching as he wants for his five years of eligibility. “Staying in Canada provides our athletes with a level of familiarity that the States just can’t offer. And now that it’s been a proven route to the pros more and more kids are willing to stay home” Coach Smart said, speaking about homegrown talent staying and playing in the CIS.
The CIS is quickly growing to be a top collegiate basketball league, and at the heart of it is the rivalry between its two best teams; stationed only 9 minutes away, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and the Carleton Ravens.
