Over the Sept. 20-21 weekend, Ravens men’s basketball alumni gathered with the current team to celebrate their membership and to meet new and old players in a welcoming, fun atmosphere on and off the court, according to Ravens forward Gavin Resch.
On Sept. 20, the program held an annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which they created exclusively for the basketball program.
Among the honoured names were Osvaldo Jeanty, who graduated from the team in 2007. Jeanty was named Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Male Athlete of the Year in 2006 and led the Ravens to five CIS titles while at Carleton. Jeanty went on to play professionally in Europe until 2013.
Stuart Turnbull, another former Raven and All Canadian who graduated in 2009, was also in attendance.
“We’ve been doing alumni weekends for a while, but we formalized it last year,” he said. “Mostly it’s just for us to get together and laugh and talk about old stories.”
Along with Jeanty and Turnbull, 2009 CIS Defensive Player of the Year Rob Saunders made an appearance.
Turnbull said the alumni have established a mentor program to help out the current players off the court, and this is one of the events that helps the group connect.
“We match up guys on the team with alumni who are in similar fields, to try and informally help them prepare for post-university and post-basketball careers,” he said.
Resch also said the event is a good opportunity to meet and make connections with former players.
“It’s nice to see other people who have came to the program and see what they are doing in their lives now,” he said.
On Sept. 20, the current and former Ravens split up into several teams before engaging in a small, spirited basketball tournament. Turnbull said it didn’t go so well for the alumni.
“We mixed up the alumni, who are out of shape and old with the current team in a round-robin scrimmage,” he said. “Eventually we found out why we don’t play anymore and we quit early.”
Resch said he admired all the talent on the court at one time.
“It’s always cool to see the dynamics of players,” he said.
According to Resch, after hours of much-needed playing time, the alumni headed to TD Place to attend the Panda Game in the afternoon.
