Interviews with Anthony Beyrouti

On this episode, we had the pleasure of chatting with Head Coach of UBC Men's Basketball and Winningest Coach in Canada West History, Kevin Hanson.  

Bio courtesy of: https://gothunderbirds.ca/sports/mens... 

UBC’s Kevin Hanson is one of most decorated head coaches in the Canada West, and all of U SPORTS. He enters his 20th season at UBC with 304 conference victories, and is the wins leader amongst current Canada West coaches. Hanson trails just Don Horwood (313) on the league’s all-time list. Hanson also holds the best regular season winning percentage in Canada West for active coaches at .770.  

In the 2018-19, the Thunderbirds won 17 of 20 regular season games for the second year in a row. UBC went the distance in a pair of best-of-three series to advance to the Canada West final, where the team fell to Calgary. At the U SPORTS Final 8, the T-Birds battled to a fifth-place finish with a record of 2-1.  

The 2017-18 campaign saw fifth-year forward Conor Morgan earn Canada West Player of the Year recognition for the second time in a row.  

Hanson was an assistant coach with the Canadian team that, with UBC stars Morgan and Grant Shephard, won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

At the end of the 2016-17 campaign, Hanson was recognized as the Canada West’s Coach of the Year. It was the sixth time he achieved this feat, tied for the most in league history. Hanson previously merited the honour in 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011. In 2006 and 2010, he was named the U SPORTS Coach of the Year.  

The 2016-17 edition of Hanson’s T-Birds went 19-1 in league play, improving their regular season record for the third-consecutive season. In addition to the coaching honour, UBC team members also earned three other major conference awards: Player of the Year (Morgan), Defensive Player of the Year (Jordan Jensen-Whyte), and the Ken Shields Award nomination for excellence in basketball, academics and community involvement (Phil Jalalpoor).  

In 2015-16, Hanson recorded his 250th conference victory and led his Thunderbirds to a fifth-place showing at the U SPORTS Final 8 national tournament, which was played at UBC for the first time since 1972.  

Since arriving at UBC in 2000, Hanson has turned the men’s basketball program into a national power, guiding the T-Birds to consecutive appearances (2009 and 2010) in the U SPORTS championship game.

Hanson was also well recognized before coming to UBC and is a four-time BCCAA Coach of the Year (‘92,’ 94, ’99, ’00), was twice presented with the CCAA Coaching Excellence Award (‘94 and ‘99), and was also named Basketball B.C. Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1994.

The two-time UBC graduate has also been involved with Basketball Canada for nearly two decades, leading Canada’s World University Games team to a bronze-medal finish at the 2003 Summer Universiade in Korea. In the same position in 2005, Hanson led Canada to fifth place in Turkey. He was the head coach of the 2011 Canadian roster that won the silver medal in Shenzhen, China. In 2017, Hanson served as Team Canada head coach at a Summer Universiade for the fourth time.

Hanson graduated from UBC’s Faculty of Human Kinetics in 1988 and earned his Master’s Degree in Human Kinetics from UBC in 1994.

On this episode of Interviews with Anthony Beyrouti, we had the opportunity to sit down with a successful basketball player from Langley B.C., Jadon Cohee.   

Like many young basketball players Jadon aspired to play collegiate basketball and have his school paid for. Jadon grew up in Langley, and attended Walnut Grove Secondary. There, Cohee won a Provincial Championship and was named MVP of the tournament.  

His university career only begun when he committed to Seattle-U out of high-school, but things didn't seem fit. He then transferred to Southern Utah University who plays in the NCAA Div.1 league, however he thought it would be best to come back to Canada and play close to home at UBC.  

He is now a recent graduate from the UBC Men's Basketball program where he had a very successful ending to his collegiate career. He now hopes to continue his basketball journey and play professionally.

On this episode of Interviews with Anthony Beyrouti, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Ron Putzi, the Basketball BC Hall of Fame Inductee.   

Ron Putzi started his elite basketball journey at Richmond High School where he was coached by Bill Disbrow. Ron captained the Super Colts to the Provincial Championships in 1987 and 1988. Ron ‘Putzi’ was selected MVP of those 1988 Provincials and subsequently named BC Junior Male Athlete of the Year. That same year he scored a famed tournament record 61 points in the final of the Vancouver College Emerald Tournament. He was later honored as a member of The Province newspaper’s all-time “Dream Team” and “Player of the Decade.”  

Ron received a 5-year, Division 1 scholarship to play for New Mexico State University where the Aggies became Big West Conference Champions, received 4 NCAA Tournament bids, and reached The Sweet 16 in 1992.  

Ron graduated from New Mexico State University with a BA degree in Finance & International Business (Hon. Econ).  

In the Aggies’ off season, Ron played two summers with the Canadian National Team (FISU). With this team he played in the World Basketball League, NBA Summer League, and received the silver medal at the World University Games in Sheffield, England.  

Ron played professional basketball for 10 years in Europe – specifically Switzerland – where his teams reached 7 National Finals, including winning the Swiss National Championship in 2000. Along with being the top scorer and winning the Canada Games gold medal, he played in the “Magic” Johnson Pepsi All-Star game in Zurich, Switzerland 1994 (Mark Aguirre, Kurt Rambis etc). Ron scored 10 points while Earvin Johnson scored 22.  

Later, coaching alongside 2x Olympian Howard Kelsey & Q.C. Wally Oppal, (Att. Gen. of BC) Ron won a Gold medal at the World Police & Fire Games.  

In 2018, Ron was inducted into the Basketball BC Hall Of Fame & Richmond Sports Wall of Fame (Athlete).  

Aside from Putzi's basketball achievements, he is an accomplished athlete. Putzi has completed three Iron Man Triathlons in 2010-2012. He completed the Vancouver Sun Run 10 Km three times, he cycled from Vancouver to Whistler in the RBC Granfondo Canada Whistler four times, and completed many Kayaking and Canoeing adventures that last up to 7 days on the water. He competed in additional races and competitions including other marathons, and triathlons around BC, as wells as many Dunk Championships at local tournaments.   

Read his full Bio at: http://www.putzi.ca/basketball-resume

BC Sports Hall of Famer, and Two-Time Olympian, Howard Kelsey, is the next guest on this episode of Interviews with Anthony Beyrouti.  

Kelsey, born and raised in Vancouver, attended Point Grey Secondary where he led his lowly-ranked team to a city championship and a fifth-place finish at the 1975 Provincial Championships and was crowned tournament MVP. Kelsey still holds the record of BC's highest high school career scoring average with a whopping 37.5 points per game.  

Towards the end of his high school career, Kelsey was approached by then Canadian National Team Coach, Jack Donahue, who recruited him straight to the Men's National Team where he played for eleven years (1977-88).  

During his university career, Kelsey started at Oklahoma State, and then earned himself Conference MVP honours at Illinois’ Principia College, where he finished as the third leading scorer nationally amongst NCAA small colleges (29.2 ppg). Professionally, he played for Leones Negroes in Guadalajara, Mexico, averaging over 29 career points per game.  

Despite his high school and university scoring prowess, it was on the Canadian national team where Kelsey truly shined. One of the top players to represent Canada internationally at his position, Kelsey appeared in over 400 games at a time when Canada was consistently ranked in the world’s top-five. The two-time Canadian Olympian (1980, 1984) stands as one of only two native British Columbian basketball players to represent Canada in two Olympic Games.  

Among Canada’s best results with Kelsey aboard include a fourth-place finish at the 1984 Olympic Games, gold at 1978 Commonwealth Basketball Championships, and gold at 1983 FISU World University Games at a time when all national ‘A’ teams competed. While facing the best American players of his generation including Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and Isiah Thomas, Kelsey was a key starter for Canada’s first-ever victory over the US in a major international competition at the 1981 FISU Games. The Canadians followed it up with another defeat of the US in the 1983 FISU games.  

Beyond his playing career, Kelsey served as athletic coordinator under Ken Shields at the University of Victoria from 1983-90, producing thirteen national basketball championships, sixty-three UVIC Olympians, and sixteen Olympic medalists in that time.  

Source: BC Sports Hall of Fame: https://bcsportshall.com/honoured_mem...

The interviewer becomes the interviewee on this episode, as Anthony sits down with one of BC's favourite sports writers, Howard Tsumura.  

With over 38 years in the industry, Howard has covered high school, university, and professional sports with a unique flair that has made him one of the best to ever do it.  

Growing up in rural Delta, BC, Tsumura never had the opportunity to participate in team sports. Keeping a scrapbook of newspaper clippings covering the Canucks, Canadiens and Expos, Howard's love of sports began to flourish. It wasn't until he entered Sands Jr. High that he saw his very first football game—he was hooked.  

After finishing high school at North Delta Secondary, Howard graduated from Kwantlen Polytechnic's Journalism program, and from there, was hired to cover his very first team, the Houston Wolverines out of, you guessed it, Houston, BC.  

Since that time, Howard has had an exciting journey, working as the Sports Editor for reputable publications like The Now newspaper chain and most notably, The Province and his very own, Varsity Letters.  

During his interview, Tsumura recounts some of his most favourite teams over the years including Bill Disbrow's 1987/1989 Richmond Colts, and the Vancouver Grizzlies.  

This is one you won't want to miss!

On this episode of Interviews with Anthony Beyrouti, we sat down with the UPEI Women's Basketball Head Coach, Matt Gamblin.

On this episode, we had the privilege of sitting down with Brookswood Secondary and NC State Alum, Aislinn Konig.  

During high school, Aislinn led the Brookswood Bobcats to three consecutive AAA titles (2014-2016), earning herself three consecutive tournament MVP's along the way. Following her senior year (2016), Konig was named Basketball BC's Player of the Year.  

Konig, a standout player for the NC State Wolfpack, averaged an outstanding 33.4 mpg, 11.0 ppg and 3.5 apg in her final season and became the second best three point shooter in program history with 294 made shots. Konig was also named ACC Tournament MVP after averaging 16.7 ppg in three Wolfpack victories.  

Aislinn was also selected to be a part of the 2020 WNBA draft but unfortunately, went undrafted all three rounds. Now, Aislinn is training and setting her sights on 2021!

On this episode of Interviews with Anthony Beyrouti, we sat down with TSN reporter and Head Coach of the New Westminster Hyacks Football program, Farhan Lalji.  

Born in Tanzania, Lalji moved to Vancouver at the age of four. After graduating from Simon Fraser University in Liberal Arts, his career in sports began at SFU, where he served as the Sports Information Director from 1991-1994. From there, Lalji worked as a producer and reporter on the ‘Sports Machine’ at CKWX Radio in Vancouver. From 1995-1997, he was a sports and weekend news anchor for the CBC, before joining TSN.  

Lalji is the Vancouver correspondent and Senior Football Reporter for SportsCentre, TSN’s flagship sports news and information program.  

Lalji, who joined TSN in 1997, covers the Canucks and BC Lions, as well as other sports stories in the Vancouver area. He also covers football (NFL, CFL and NCAA) across North America and is a CFL Insider. In addition to his television work with TSN, Lalji is also a regular contributor on TSN 1040 radio and a fill-in sports anchor at CTV Vancouver.  

Along with covering the Vancouver sports scene, Lalji has reported from some of the biggest sporting events in the world, including multiple Super Bowls, four Olympic Games, the Stanley Cup Final, College Football Playoff, NBA Finals, Grey Cup, MLB and NBA All-Star Games, golf’s U.S. Open and PGA Championship.  

Farhan is a five-time winner of the Best Sports TV Reporter in Vancouver for 2012-15 and 2017 at the Paul Carson Broadcast & Media Awards. In 2016 he was recognized for his philanthropic work in the community.  

Lalji continues to be extensively involved in developing and coaching football at the grassroots level in his home province – something he’s done for the past 30 years. He is currently the head football coach at New Westminster Secondary School, and is the past-president of the British Columbia Secondary School Football Association Board of Directors.  

For his efforts and contributions to his community, Lalji was named the 2012 Citizen of the Year in New Westminster, the 2009 Scholastic Provincial Coach of the Year at the BC Lions Orange Helmet Awards and was the 2004 and 2012 runner-up for NFL Canada National Coach of the Year.  

Bio: https://www.farhanlalji.com/

On this episode of Interviews with Anthony Beyrouti we had the chance to talk to Goran Nogic, the head coach of the Thompson Rivers University Women's Basketball team.

On this episode, we sat down with Founder and Lead Instructor at G2 Athletics, Gabe Gibbs.  

Gibbs, a Detroit native, is a professional skills coach with over ten years of experience. Having worked closely with pros like Ron Artest, Gibbs shares his thoughts about what it takes to succeed at the next level.