Every year, university sports teams face turnover from the year before, with players graduating, transferring, heading to higher levels or facing down season-ending injuries. That turnover can be a death sentence for a team’s competitiveness.
But for the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball team coach, it’s just an opportunity to play the ball differently.
“We’re trying to play in front more than we played in the past,” Ravens head coach Taffe Charles told the Charlatan. “We’ve definitely changed that aspect of our game.”
The Ravens lost notable talents in Xavier Spencer and Augustas Brazdeikis, who were both picked up by NCAA Div. I teams this off-season. Returning and experienced guard AJ Osman also suffered a season-ending ACL injury two weeks ago.
With these heavy-hitting players out of the lineup for the 2025-26 season, Charles is looking to play to their strengths: size and defense.
“We’re a very physical, big basketball team — more physical than we were last year and a bit more experienced,” Charles said. “We’ll probably be a team that’s going to be more defensive.”
For Charles, their recipe for success isn’t about winning high-scoring affairs but about owning their end of the floor and dominating the interior.
“We’re going to have to make sure we keep the ball out of our basket,” Charles said. “We’re going to have to grind it out, rebound it and play tough.”
In the Ravens’ season opening win against Guelph, the players who touched the floor boasted an average height of nearly six-foot-six-inches, something they’re looking to lean on.
“We hold well against anybody in Canada. It’s not like anybody’s going to be bigger than us.” Charles said.
With new roles and a new playstyle for the Ravens, the squad posted a winning record in their limited preseason, finishing 6-2.
Unlike the women’s team, the men’s squad didn’t lead the pack last season and were eliminated in the second round of the OUA Playoffs. But Charles said the standings still are wide open this season.
“Every team is kind of taking a step back this year because there’s been a lot of graduation and there’s a lot of younger teams,” Charles said. “This year, more than ever, it’s very difficult to handicap who’s going to be there at the end.”
Many OUA teams last season were led by fifth and sixth-year guards (notably the uOttawa Gee-Gees and Queen’s Gaels, who both earned U Sports berths). Graduation has taken a toll on the level of competition across the league.
“I just think that we’re probably not as good as we were last year, but we may go further,” Charles said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
With the departure of bigtime guards, Charles has called on guard Aubrey Dorey-Havens to be an X-factor. Dorey-Havens became a powerhouse for the Ravens by the end of last season.
“He’s going to have to take more of a scoring role and even have to defend some of their better players — two things that he didn’t have to do last year,” Charles noted.
Last season, Dorey-Havens was the team’s main distributor on offense, bolstered by his league-leading 124 assists. But this season, he’ll be looked to as a scorer who can sauce his way through defenders and toss pinpoint passes to set up his teammates.
Alongside Dorey-Havens will be forward Emanuel Milon, another upper-year player who’s been assigned a different role.
Last season, Milon was an effective close shooter who dominated the paint and shut down opposition. Milon led the Ravens in rebounds with 142 and posted 217 points with over 50 per cent shooting percentage.
This season, Charles assigned the fourth-year player as power forward. No longer a centre, Milon is playing in a more suitable position at the four and quickly made an impact on the floor.
In the Ravens’ season opener against Guelph, Milon recorded a statement performance with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
“[The change] has been helping him in terms of not getting beat up as much and still being productive and being able to shoot the three ball a bit better,” Charles said.
THIS WEEKEND
The Ravens will go head-to-head against the Nipissing Lakers this Friday in a Halloween night clash before they take on the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday for the second half of a back-to-back at home.
Tip off for both games is 8 p.m.
Both Nipissing and Laurentian are winless through two games this season and finished in the bottom half of the OUA East division last season.
“We know each other pretty well because we play each other twice a year,” Charles said. “If we want to put ourselves in the best position possible to make a playoff run, we need to beat these guys.”
Featured image by Charles Fortin
