CANADA WEST
New coach ready to turn TRU into winner
Chris Jurewicz
Daily News Sports Reports
October 27 2006
Scott Reeves says his team need to learn how to win this season.
And, if that's the goal, the TRU WolfPack women's basketball team is in good hands with Reeves. Because if you know one thing about the man, you should know this - he wins.
Reeves was hired as TRU's head coach in April. He comes to Kamloops from Langley, where he coached the Brookswood Bobcats to the past three provincial titles at the senior girls AAA level.
His head coaching record is 15-4. That includes stints as the boss of the provincial girls U16 teams in 2004 and 2005.
| Now, his job is to take what Tom Elwood and Ken Olynyk started and turn it into a winner.
"I'm excited about rebuilding," Reeves says. "In high school, I started with Grade 7s and was able to move through with them and teach them new skills, new ideas, new work ethic that carried into the classroom. We had great students come out of our program.
"So I'm excited about the rebuilding part. It's painful at times if you just look at the stats sheet. But when you're here every day and you see what goes on in practice, you see how they come together as players and people, and you see them grow and gain skills that are going to go beyond basketball, that's the exciting part for me." |
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Keith Anderson / Daily News |
| SCOTT REEVES, the new TRU WolfPack women's basketball coach, hopes to make TRU gym a dangerous place for opposing teams. |
At this point, you’re probably thinking . . . rebuilding? Didn’t the WolfPack rebuild last season? What else would you call a 2-18 season?
Reeves, though, should be talking about rebuilding because this will be his first season here. This is now his team.
The WolfPack was coached by Olynyk, TRU’s athletic director, last season and the UCC Sun Demons, the season before that, were coached by Elwood.
Some players, like Kelley O’Grady and Sarah Cameron, remain. But Reeves has worked quickly to put his mark on this team, both in the players he has recruited and the new style of basketball the team will play.
Reeves has added six players, one of whom — guard Mayo Aoki — played for him at Brookswood last season. Reeves says he’s excited at the prospect of helping develop players like 5-foot-9 forward Kayla Forsyth of Vernon and 6-foot-1 forward Jaclyn Cummings of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
He also added Kelsie Baker, a graduate of South Kamloops who spent part of last season at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Que.
Reeves believes if this group stays together, it could be among the top teams in the CIS within two years.
“It’s quite possible,” he says. “I don’t say that arrogantly or overconfidently. But I really believe in their character as people, that they’re going to work hard at this. If I can find a couple of pieces for us, there’s no question we can be in games with UBC and SFU and Saskatchewan.”
The other major change fans will notice is Reeves’ style of play. Elwood wasn’t a fan of fast-break basketball. Olynyk embraced it a little bit more. But with Reeves, the WolfPack should be one of the more exciting teams to watch, as its players are being taught how to play a fast game and take advantage of their speed.
Despite the changes, the keys to this team remain the same as last season — how well Cameron, a 5-foot-3 guard, can bring the ball up court, and how hot O’Grady, a 5-foot-8 guard, can get from the field.
Those two will lead the WolfPack into its season opener on Saturday, 5:30, when the Fraser Valley Cascades officially make the jump to Canada West. The teams meet again on Sunday at 2 p.m.