With the Carleton Ravens championship win March 13, many are predicting the beginning of another Carleton run of dominance, especially considering the core of the young team remains largely intact.
However, perhaps lost in all the post-championship celebration is the fact that these Ravens will suit up next season without one of their three captains, graduating fifth-year senior Mike Kenny.
Kenny is the only player left over from the string of five championships from 2002-07 — the last coming when Kenny was a rookie point guard backing up Ravens legend Osvaldo Jeanty. Kenny will end his Carleton career the same way he came in, with a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national title.
“Five titles would have been nice, but I’m not Osvaldo Jeanty,” Kenny said after the victory. “You know what, one is great and three is just over the top. It’s pretty special.”
The 6’0” guard has been a constant on the men’s basketball team for five years after arriving at Carleton in 2006. He enjoyed his best season statistically in the 2008-09 season, starting at point guard and leading the nation in three-point percentage at 54 per cent.
This season, Kenny moved from his starting position to the bench to make room for CIS rookie of the year Philip Scrubb. Scrubb credits Kenny for his development throughout the year.
“He’s shown me everything about how to play the point guard position,” Scrubb said. “I came in as a rookie not really knowing much and he . . . showed me what to do. [Kenny] was definitely a big impact on my year.”
Ravens coach Dave Smart said that while the team will miss Kenny’s veteran leadership, the team will continue forward, just as it has in the past when other players graduated.
“We’ve got to move on,” Smart said. “I’m so happy for him that this is how he finished his career, but I mean, we moved on from Kevin [McCleery], we moved on from Aaron [Doornekamp], Stu [Turnbull] and Rob [Saunders]. We’ve got to move on.”