By Eyeopener Sports staff
When the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees men’s basketball team were posing for pictures with both the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions banner and Wilson Cup in their hands, one player stood out. While the team donned the golden medal on their chests and adjusted their champions’ caps for the right fit, he stood with his hat backwards—not putting the championship logo on full display.
With a smile from ear to ear, fourth-year Gee-Gee’s guard Ankit Choudhary had just been crowned OUA champion on March 8. The former Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold player from 2021-23 finally found a home, knowing that the reward for his hard work came with the many accolades in his hands.
“[Ottawa is] the best team in the country, and we prove that every night. At TMU, you didn’t really get that vibe,” said Choudhary. “[The TMU squad from 2023 was] a good team. We always had good, good talent…but no one expected us to win the national championship outside of us.”
For the athletes who win U Sports championships each year, every journey is unique. While many were rewarded for several years of dedication to their program, others had to make hard choices for their personal growth. For some, choosing to join or move to a team can be about realizing their full potential or earning more playing time.
For Choudhary, it was about finding the right team to take his skills to the next level.
Choudhary transferred out of TMU to play the 2023-24 season with the West Florida Argonauts in the National College Athletics Association Division II in search of more opportunities and challenges. After a year—and realizing Florida is too far from family—he transferred back to Canada to play for the Gee-Gees this season.
“I feel the way I could have grown as a player was kind of maximized at that place at that time. And I felt like it was just time for me to move on to a new experience and grow in other ways,” he said of his time at TMU.
In some ways, the move paid off. Choudhary finished the 2024-25 regular season as the best three-point shooter in the country, third in free throw percentage and among the top scorers overall in the OUA. Despite finding his form with other teams since leaving, he cherishes his days as a Bold athlete and considers them necessary to reaching where he is now.
“I wouldn’t have met all these different people and learned all the things I’ve learned and experienced so much life…if I hadn’t gone to all these different places,” he said. “Those two years at TMU are something I’m so grateful for, but when it’s time to move on, it’s time to move on.”
“‘It’s just time for me to move on to something else.’ I just didn’t feel like I was going to get that at TMU”
He admitted that if someone had told him a year ago where he would be now, he would have laughed. “I’m extremely grateful for where I am now,” he said.
Choudhary is not the only former Bold player to find success with other teams. Yaroslav Svidritskiy, a former TMU volleyball player from 2021-23, found his form with the George Brown College Huskies men’s volleyball team.
“I expect to be up there on the leaderboards…but I didn’t think I’d be at the very top,” he said after being named Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) East Division Player of the Year and a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Canadian, while leading the OCAA in kills with 277.
Svidritskiy joined TMU and was listed as a redshirt in his first year. When playing time became available, he had to take on a role that didn’t match his forte.
“I kept getting stuck in a position on the court that I didn’t want to be playing. I always tried to be a utility player, filling in where needed, but I wasn’t able to develop my own playstyle,” he explained.
Svidritskiy had always been more comfortable as an outside hitter, but at the time, TMU lacked middle blockers. In that position, he didn’t feel he could do his best. “I had my strengths, I had my weaknesses, but it almost felt like…running up against a brick wall where I just couldn’t get better,” he said.
With the nature of rotations in volleyball and having dealt with several knee injuries that slowed down his progress, Svidritskiy said he understands “why they didn’t put me on the court.”
“Play time is not expected, it’s not a guarantee, it’s a privilege—and you earn it by showing that you are capable of performing better than other people that do get that play time in volleyball,” he said. “I wasn’t up to par…skill-wise.”
Svidritskiy was not only dealing with in-game challenges but was also on an “emotional roller coaster” with his academic life. He switched majors from mathematics to creative industries after realizing he hated math—and due to his grades—he became academically ineligible to play with the Bold.
Nevertheless, he looks back on his years at TMU and acknowledged he needed change.
“If TMU worked out way better than it did, I think I probably would have stuck to it,” he admitted. “But realistically speaking, for me, the only thing that really prevented me from being on the team was my schooling.”
Like Svidritskiy, it’s common for athletes who are struggling to get playing time with their team to look beyond the OUA. Grace McLellan, who played for the TMU Bold women’s soccer team from 2022-24, made the decision to transfer to Mohawk College in the OCAA primarily due to her lack of playing time and an understanding of what she wanted from soccer at that point in her life.
“My main goal for university was always to play, and as I was heading into my third-year at TMU, I was told I would not play unless I changed a lot as a player,” said McLellan.
Facing academic troubles in her nursing program, she began to realize her time at TMU was uncertain and that she needed a fresh start.
“I don’t think my coaches were very shocked that I was transferring since we had very recently had the conversation that I would not play that year,” she recalled. “They seemed supportive and encouraging about my decision and wished me the best.”
However, for her teammates, the news was unexpected. “They all wished me good luck, and many texted me privately to ask what happened and let me know that I would be missed,” said McLellan.
The decision to leave a close-knit team environment had its share of emotional challenges, but she knew she needed a change.
“There were many struggles emotionally since I knew I would miss the life I had built for myself in Toronto,” admitted McLellan. Leaving behind friendships and TMU’s familiarity was difficult, but she soon found her footing in her new environment.
“I don’t think if I was still at TMU that I would have been given this opportunity”
With the Mohawk Mountaineers, McLellan has scored three goals across 11 games this season and earned the experience of a lifetime in the form of a 10-day trip to Italy to play at the Il Calcio è in Rosa tournament. She credits Mohawk head coach Paul Giannini for giving her the opportunity to do what she loved most across the world.
“[Giannini] was invited to bring a team of his choosing for this tournament and I was one of the lucky players to be chosen,” said McLellan. “I don’t think if I was still at TMU that I would have been given this opportunity.”
As each athlete settles into their new chapter, their focus begins to shift, not just on excelling in the present but also on what comes next. While leaving TMU came with uncertainty, they made the decision they deemed best for themselves and embraced both the challenges and opportunities that came with a fresh start in a new environment.
For Choudhary, the decision has paid off and he’s looking to the next stage in his basketball journey. The Gee-Gees finished third in the U Sports national championship on March 16, bringing home a bronze medal to finish off an unforgettable season.
“This is the experience I wanted. This is the experience I’m talking about when I said, ‘It’s just time for me to move on to something else.’ I just didn’t feel like I was going to get that at TMU,” said Choudhary.
With files from Amulyaa Dwivedi
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