NBL Canada has benefited from U SPORTS talent

Is OUA sport ‘elite’? Former star Greg Surmacz, who played pro in Europe and in the NBLC (including with the London Lightning), certainly thinks so. Add Lightning coach Doug Plumb to the list, too.

Greg Surmacz played for the Lightning in the team’s third season (2013-14). He’s now an assistant coach with his alma mater, the University of Windsor Lancers. (Photo: London Lightning).

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U SPORTS basketball reinvigorated Greg Surmacz’s love for the game.

After an up-and-down stint in The States, the Peterborough, Ont., native landed with the University of Windsor in 2006. There, he discovered a game he never knew existed. “Coach (Chris) Oliver showed me how competitive the league was. He showed me the talent level. Seeing that opened my eyes. I had always been so focused on D1 that I never considered the talent level at home. It blew me away.”

That U SPORTS experience propelled the two-time All-Canadian into a 12-year professional career that included stops with the Windsor Express and London Lightning. Last fall, the 36-year-old retired from European league hoops and returned to Windsor as an assistant under Lancers head coach Chris Cheng.

“Greg is the one of those stories we love to celebrate as a league – homegrown talent coming up through university programs and then into our league where they find success and get incredible exposure,” said Audley Stephenson, NLB Canada Vice-president of Basketball Operations. “You cannot write the history of our league without a big chapter on Canadian university athletes.”

U SPORTS athletes have played a vital role in the success of the NBL Canada – a “key feeder of top talent” to the league. In total, 96 players from 37 postsecondary institutions have suited up over the league’s 10-year history with Windsor (10), Carleton University (eight), and St Mary’s University (seven) ranking as the top contributors. The University of Western Ontario had only one player in the NBL Canada, Greg Morrow, who played three seasons with the KW Titans from 2017-19.

The Lightning have frequently tapped into U SPORTS talent, including for the 2022 team that features former University of British Columbia teammates forward Jordan Jensen-Whyte and head coach Doug Plumb.

“U SPORTS style of play is close to pro basketball,” Plumb said. “With some Division I guys, it’s sometimes hard to extrapolate what they did in college to what they’re going to do in a pro setting. While the talent is similar, the game is so different from a rules standpoint. U SPORTS uses a 24-second shot clock. They use FIBA rules. The game is mostly predicated around ball movement and ball-screen action and being good in transition – which is the pro game in a nutshell and that’s U SPORTS.”

Surmacz agreed. “There’s so much athleticism in U SPORTS now. In the past, all the top athletes were immediately going D1. But a lot more guys stick around local programs. When you look at Toronto, Windsor, Carleton, Ryerson, Ottawa, these university teams have three or four guys who have a chance to go play professionally. When I was playing, maybe each team had one or two who could take their game and play at that level. U SPORTS basketball is now a quicker, more skilled, better game with a lot of great athletes on the floor.”

In recent weeks, Canadian university athletes have taken centre court in a battle over continuing to play and practice during COVID-19. Under new Ontario restrictions to combat the pandemic, gyms and other indoor recreational sport facilities were closed on Jan. 5, except for athletes training for the Olympics and Paralympics and “certain professional and elite sports leagues.” Ontario University Athletics (OUA) sports were not designated as elite and therefore have been paused until at least Jan. 27.

The move promoted OUA officials to issue a statement condemning the omission, which read, in part: “The notion that the hard-working student-athletes, who have long strived toward the goal of competing at the postsecondary level and proudly representing one of the OUA’s 20 member institutions in the sport they love, aren’t considered elite by the Government of Ontario is a disservice to the dedication, commitment, and talent that they continue to show on a day-to-day basis.”

“Seeing what's happening in Ontario right now, it's just very confusing because it doesn’t seem to make any sense,” Plumb said. “I really feel for these kids. For adults, what we’re going through in terms of how it’s affected our lives, it sucks for sure. But for a college or a high school kid, those years are so critical. They’re not getting those years back. I feel just sick for them with what’s happening and for being constantly yanked around like this.

“U SPORTS kids understand higher level basketball concepts outside of thinking like a robot, probably faster than some kids do in the U.S. How can you say that U SPORTS is not elite?”

While the move continues to be debated in the short term, U SPORTS programs are continuing to thrive long term. Further investments in program infrastructures are giving these athletes a reason to stay closer to home and play university hoops. The availability of professional opportunities like the NBL Canada further sweeten the opportunity for a growing number of elite basketball players.

“It was great to be part of a professional team in a basketball city,” Surmacz said of his time with the Express. “The NLB Canada opens doors for players to get an opportunity after their U SPORTS career to catapult themselves into a professional league and start to build a career here, in Europe, G League, or even beyond.”

For the NBL Canada, U SPORTS athletes taking to the court is part of the league’s larger mission.

“As a league, we want to work closer with organizations like the OUA, offering more opportunities for their athletes. What could be better than for Canada’s longest standing professional basketball league to provide opportunities for some of the best players this country has to offer,” Stephenson said. “Our university stars have been elite contributors to this league since its inception.”

The NBL Canada tips off its 10th anniversary season in February.