The general manager, the coach, the players—even the arena. Nothing is left untouched when it comes to the connection and influence of the Carleton Ravens men’s basketball program on the Canadian Elite Basketball Leagues’s (CEBL) newest team, the Ottawa BlackJacks.
Originally set to begin their inaugural season this year, the sense of familiarity and culture that surrounds the team struggles to separate the team from the university down the road.
In the run-up to this season, when commissioner and CEO Mike Morreale felt the CEBL could pull off the expansion effectively, the league awarded Ottawa its team.
“Without Carleton, we still could have made the case that Ottawa is a great market for many reasons,” said Morreale. “But the popularity, the success, the winning nature of the Carleton program, and what it’s done not just for Carleton, but how it’s developed some of our top basketball players in the country, is something you can’t just unnotice.”
The first connection is through general manager Dave Smart, the architect of Carleton’s basketball dynasty as head coach of the men’s team for 21 years and now the director of basketball operations. Additionally, head coach Osvaldo Jeanty won five national championships with the Ravens as a player in the mid-2000s and later coached alongside Smart at Carleton.
The same pattern follows suit for the players. Of the seven announced players for the BlackJacks’ 10-man roster, only one—Eric Kibi—has no connection to Carleton.
“Once I saw that Dave was signed on as GM there, it was pretty much writing on the wall that the roster’s gonna be if not 100 per cent Carleton, at least 75 per cent,” said Mitch Robson, host of the Canadian university basketball podcast Muted Madness.
There’s Tajinder Lall, Lloyd Pandi, Alain Louis, Munis Tutu, Yasiin Joseph and Jean Emmanuel Pierre-Charles, players with experience at Carleton, who will now bring their taste of that culture and comfort to the BlackJacks.
And then, for good measure, there’s the BlackJack’s home court at TD Place, where the Ravens hosted the Ottawa Gee-Gees at this year’s Capital Hoops rivalry and where Carleton won their 15th national championship in the last 18 years at the U Sports Final 8 tournament last month.
This extensive connection is no mistake–Smart has known these players for as long as eight to 10 years through their development in Ottawa. Their familiarity with each other and their common backgrounds gives them a unique confidence, even as they enter what is technically an inaugural season for the BlackJacks.
“I’m really close to both [Jeanty and Smart],” said Carleton guard Louis, drafted 15th overall in the 2020 CEBL U Sports Draft. “I understand everything they’re gonna say is gonna be for my best. I’m not really worried about playing time or anything.”
“Playing with a couple teammates that I’ve played with over the years at Carleton just gives me a lot of comfort,” said Tutu, who signed as a free agent. “Having Dave there and [Jeanty] as the head coach, I know they really trust me so I’m going to be able to just play my game.”
Most of the players have had long-lasting careers with Carleton. Louis and Tutu have both spent three seasons with Carleton, Lall has spent four seasons, and Joseph has spent five. Pierre-Charles played from 2012 to 2015 with the Ravens before transferring to the University of Ottawa. The odd one out is U Sports Rookie of the Year Pandi who just finished his first season with Carleton this year.
Lall, Louis and Pandi are designated U Sports developmental players, meaning they can return to the Ravens next season. To preserve their amateur status, returning players will be compensated with academic bursaries for their university.
Given the presence of basketball in the Ottawa community, the seven-team CEBL had its eyes on Ottawa as a site for a franchise in its first season of play last year, but decided to wait a year to tackle the challenges of playing in Ottawa: the big market and the bilingual nature.
“The reason people thoroughly enjoy the sport of basketball [in Canada] is because of the success of Carleton,” said Morreale. “They’re one of the best teams to play in North America.”
The presence and influence of Carleton on the BlackJacks gives the team “instant credibility,” Morreale believes.
“[Fans] recognize the names and they’re tied to winning championships,” said Morreale. “It also goes to show that as a league, we’re taking it seriously and we want the best people involved.”
Those people are Jeanty and Smart, instilling familiar values and a comfortable culture for the players.
“Dave has been, or is, in my opinion, the best coach in North America,” said Jeanty. “We’re from different generations as well, but Carleton has had a winning culture for a very long time.”
“Coming from a Carleton program . . . we work extremely hard and we’re pushed in certain ways where it prepares you for the next level,” said Pandi. “Just going through that for the full course of the season will definitely help with the BlackJacks.
“[The coaches at Carleton] always preach hard work and just playing within the structure,” said Tutu. “Not being so much an individual and more of a team player.”
This season is in doubt, with global efforts to limit transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic; the CEBL has yet to announce their plan for playing this year, but according to Morreale, the league is exploring alternatives, including starting the season in late June or July.
“Whether we play or not, this year is not going to dictate the future of the CEBL,” Morreale said.
Regardless, the second-largest challenge for the BlackJacks this season may be the transition into pro-ball for Ravens players, according to Robson.
“It’ll be interesting to see if the talent translates the same way and the same kind of dominance that you see at the university level against guys in the pros.”
Feature image by Tim Austen.
