The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's basketball team opens their 2014-15 regular season this Friday and Saturday night (Nov. 7-8) as they head to Waterloo to take on the Waterloo Warriors and Laurier Golden Hawks.
The Blues return home the following weekend and host the Windsor Lancers and Western Mustangs in their home opening weekend (Nov. 14-15) at the brand new Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.
Advance tickets are on sale
here. All OUA men's basketball games will also be streamed live on OUA.tv.
The OUA sees a new four-division format, with Toronto placed in the East with Ryerson, York and Queen's. The top three teams in the division will advance to the playoffs.
The Blues are coming off a rebuilding year, that saw the team finish with a 4-18 record in eighth place in the East. John Campbell enters his second season as Toronto's bench boss and is excited to get the season started.
"I think moving forward the returning players have a good idea of what the expectations are," said Campbell. "Hopefully as a result, they will be able to form a leadership group that allows our rookies to have an easier transition coming through this year.
Fourth-year Santa Clara transfer Julian Clarke returns to his hometown and has been named captain of this year's squad. The Master's student played three seasons with the NCAA Division I Santa Clara Broncos after being named the OFSAA championship most valuable player in 2010 while at Oakwood C.I.
Clarke will look to fifth-year guard and three-point specialist Dylan Churchill (Ottawa) to help lead rookie guard Sage Usher from St. Michael's College through his first season in the Blue and White.
A trio of third-year forwards are expected to turn heads this season. Brampton, Ont., native Manny Sahota transferred to U of T from the Cornell Big Red last year and averaged 8.8 points and four rebounds in four games played last year.
Devin Johnson, coming off a season-ending injury in 2013-14, has had an incredible pre-season for the Blues. The 6-foot-4 forward from Ajax has averaged 17.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game during Toronto's October exhibition schedule.
Etobicoke, Ont., native Denis Ankrah led the Blues with 5.4 rebounds per game and 11 blocks, while also ranking third with 31 steals last season.
The Blues will also look to second-year McMaster transfer Kwasi Oti-Awere to have a strong presence in the paint this year.
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