By Santiago Ortega

Eight months ago, the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) Varsity Court was a madhouse in a way never seen before. As night fell on Feb. 28, the Bold men’s and women’s basketball teams were crowned the Wilson Cup and Critelli Cup Ontario University Athletics (OUA) champions, respectively. The wins came after the teams dispatched both of Carleton’s basketball programs in a commanding double-sweep home victory. 

Flash forward to this week, when both teams will raise their championship banners on Nov. 6, immortalizing these triumphs ahead of their home-openers against the Windsor Lancers. But beyond commemorating two storied OUA seasons, the night represents a multitude of long-time player aspirations realized across both programs.

On the men’s team, star player and recent graduate Aaron Rhooms fulfilled his promise to deliver a banner to the program after four years of heartbreak. The U Sports Player of the Year was the engine of the Bold offence all season long and a pivotal piece of sporting success for Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). 

Then-first-year guard Gurdeep Kalsi described how, even as a rookie, the season’s meaning was clear to him right away.

“It was Aaron’s last year…we knew what we were going in to win for,” said Kalsi.

The men’s team claimed their title after a hard-fought playoff stretch, winning in overtime against the Guelph Gryphons in the quarterfinals, then proceeding to upset the Brock Badgers and the Carleton Ravens—two teams they had lost to during the regular season.

When the time mattered most, the Bold put the previous setbacks aside, claiming their first title since 2017.

“We were physically and mentally ready to play in those situations,” said head coach David DeAveiro. “Our guys had a quiet confidence within their work.”

For the women, just four years had passed since their legendary undefeated national championship season in 2022. Following a Critelli Cup win last year, those who weren’t on the roster four years ago were able to live out the same feeling they’d heard so much about.

Interim head coach Stefanija Mrvaljevic, who used to play as a guard for TMU herself, said in the final moments of the championship, her thoughts were on the players.

“I wanted it so much more for our players to experience the highs that I was able to experience and [to] feel like you really worked for something with a group,” said Mrvaljevic.

Fifth-year guard Kaitlynn Nichols, who experienced two semifinal losses before the eventual OUA championship, knew how eager the squad was to return to the peak previous teams had achieved.

“We’d gotten so close a couple years in a row. Every year we came back hungrier. Last year, we were so connected,” commented Nichols, “all 15 of us stuck together throughout [the ups and downs].”

Fourth-year guard Catrina Garvey chose to come to TMU partly because of the winning legacy she’d been told about by former player Marin Scotten, who was also a member of the 2022 team. Though the championship didn’t come immediately, the wait made it mean that much more for Garvey.

“Persevering through my first couple of years to being in that moment and finally winning, it feels like all your hard work finally paid off and all that hardship you have to go through,” said Garvey.

For their part, the women overcame almost every team they faced, losing just two games during the regular season. When playoffs rolled around, the squad dominated in their semifinal matchup, dismissing Windsor 97-38 before besting the Ravens 75-60 in a game they never trailed in.

Like in the men’s program, there’s a similar absence this year for the women’s squad, with the departure of longtime head coach Carly Clarke, who now serves as an assistant coach for the Toronto Tempo.  

Clarke achieved three Critelli Cup championships during her 14-year tenure and was named U Sports Coach of the Year and OUA Coach of the Year across all sports for the women’s undefeated 2022 season.

As the longest-tenured player on the team, Nichols enjoyed the championship as much for herself as for Clarke, seeing firsthand how much she’d contributed to the team throughout the years.

“Being able to capture that, especially in Carly’s last year, meant a lot…she has been here throughout my university career, so that was special,” said Nichols.

The coaching staff’s previous playoff experience had taught them that the work for a championship begins long before the playoff matchups.

Mrvaljevic echoed a similar sentiment, saying, “You don’t become a good team in the playoffs, you become a good team in September.”

“It takes some time to get that alignment and ultimately be really focused on the process,” said Clarke, adding, “we [made] sure that we were the best that we could be when playoffs rolled around.”

DeAveiro agrees with the notion. Armed with a roster that lost ten players from last year, his main focus is on the growth of the team.

“They don’t know how hard it was to achieve that last year,” said DeAveiro. “A championship is the ultimate goal, but I think with this group, it’s [the goal] to get better every day.”

As they look ahead to the new season, DeAveiro knows the team needs to find its identity and roles in order to defend a title many weren’t a part of.

So far, the women have continued their dominance from last year. Keeping most of their championship squad, including First-Team All-Canadian guard Myriam Kone and OUA Defensive Player of the Year Hailey Franco-DeRyck, they remained undefeated in preseason and have won their first three away regular-season fixtures, outscoring their opponents by a minimum margin of 20 points. 

Meanwhile, the men had a wake-up call in their opener against Laurier, losing 73-79, but bounced back with 79-54 and 94-70 victories over Brock and McMaster respectively.

Both teams will have the chance to relive their glory one last time when the two banners are raised, before officially turning the page to focus on their title defence. 

DeAveiro knows that teams will now be looking to come for TMU’s crown.

“We’re now the hunted,” said DeAveiro. “Everybody is coming for us, so we need to be prepared.” 

Garvey noted the challenge that is now presented to opposing teams entering the MAC.

“Having that banner is a threat that this team has won, and they want to do it again,” she said.