Philip Scrubb was in high demand as a basketball player in his senior year of high school.
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division one teams the New Mexico State Aggies and University of Portland Pilots were interested in acquiring his services, he said. He also had full-tuition scholarship offers from five schools in his home province, including the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and University of Victoria Vikes.
But in the end, the 17-year-old native of Richmond, B.C. chose the Carleton Ravens.
“I think that Carleton is the best fit in terms of me wanting to become the best player I can be,” said Scrubb, who turns 18 later this month. “They’ve also won a lot in the past and winning is a big part of what I want to accomplish as a player.”
So far, so good.
The Ravens did a lot of winning in the preseason, going 8-0 against Canadian teams. Scrubb made an immediate impact in those games, including a 35-point performance against the University of Laval Oct. 24 in the Rouge et Or tournament finale. For his efforts, Scrubb was named tournament MVP.
With 22 points, he was also the leading scorer in the Ravens’ season-opening win against the Guelph Gryphons Nov. 5.
Before coming to Carleton this year, Scrubb was a star player for the Vancouver College Fighting Irish, a provincial all-star, and a member of the 2010 Canadian Junior National team. He said he comes from a basketball family, and his older brother Thomas, 19, also plays for the Ravens.
“Both of our parents played, so pretty early on we were playing basketball, not seriously, but for fun,” Scrubb recalled.
Although he grew up playing basketball with his brother, Scrubb said there was never any real sense of competition between the two of them.
“[We] never liked losing to each other,” laughed the first-year commerce student. “We kind of coped with that by never playing against each other.”
The brothers only played on the same team once in high school, when Thomas was in his senior year and Phillip was in Grade 11. Thomas red-shirted for the Ravens last year, but this season both Scrubbs are on the court for Carleton.
“A big part [of my decision to come to Carleton] was that my brother was here,” Scrubb said. “So I kind of felt comfortable already coming in.”
“He’s done pretty well,” Thomas said of his younger brother’s performance so far. “I think he’ll play a big part in our success. He’s got a size advantage over most other point guards, so he can get lots of shots off that other guards can’t.”
Regardless, the transition to university ball hasn’t been easy for the 6’3” guard.
“It’s been pretty tough,” Scrubb admitted. “It’s a lot more physical and you have to try to work on your weaknesses and get an all-around game.”
But his all-around game is already pretty solid, according to his junior national team coach Greg Francis.
“The most intriguing part about Phil is that he plays older than his age,” Francis said. “He’s really athletic and quick, [and] he can be really effective because of the way he changes speeds. He’s an interesting player.”
Francis also said he believes Scrubb has untapped potential as a basketball player.
“I think he has the potential to play on the senior [Canadian] national team one day and maybe play after university at the pro level,” Francis said. “He’s very serious about working on his game, so I would imagine that he’ll get better every year in university.”
Francis’ predictions are right in line with Scrubb’s own aspirations.
“Since early on in high school, I really wanted to play on the [senior] national team and maybe somewhere in Europe,” Scrubb said. “That’s probably the main reason why I came to Carleton. I think it gives me the best opportunity to achieve those goals.”
Right now, however, Scrubb isn’t looking past his first season as a Raven.
“I just want to get better to the point where I can contribute more to the team,” he said.
Off the court, Scrubb is soft-spoken, chooses his words carefully, and has what Francis describes as a “low-key, you speak first, and he’ll speak after that” kind of demeanor.
Give the guy a ball, on the other hand, and he’s impossible to overlook.
“He’s pretty competitive,” Thomas said. “And he’s pretty passionate about basketball.”
