Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – With no discernable veteran presence on the Griffins men's basketball team this season – no single player is past Year 2 of eligibility – the players voted on a somewhat wide-open race for who should be named team captain.
It ended in a three-way tie.
So, second-years Matthew Osunde, Job Janda and Taylor Cook will share the responsibility of leading the team this season.
"We all have shared experiences from last year," said Osunde. "Me, Job, and Taylor can all relate to the guys, and we can all relate to each other, so it's not just one de facto leader. We're all coming together."
The trio will lead the Griffins into their home-opening weekend vs. UFV on Friday (8 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).
Osunde, who had the most first-place votes of the three in the players' ballot for captain, which went on a 1-2-3 point system, earned the honour of a captain's interview heading into the home opener.
"It's an honour to be selected by my teammates," said the Morinville, Alta. product. "I look forward to being the leader they voted me to be and getting better as a whole."
M��| PREVIEW
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) November 3, 2022
Voted as one of three co-captains on @MacewanBasketb1 this season, emerging talent Matthew Osunde will lead @MacEwanU into its home-opening weekend vs. @UFVCascades (FRI, 8 PM & SAT, 4 PM, Atkinson Gym, @CanadaWest TV).#GriffNation
STORY➡️https://t.co/hNFpA9nV4R pic.twitter.com/HYI0wO2Zwj
Osunde had an impressive rookie campaign in 2021-22, setting a new program record for the best free throw percentage in a Canada West season (88.0), and breaking the rookie points per game average mark (8.2).
"I think his season last year was all about him getting accustomed to the play, the size, the speed and the quickness," said MacEwan head coach Mike Connolly. "It gave him the groundwork of the stuff he needs to work on to continue to improve.
"For him it's about opening his eyes to what's going to be expected coming from small town Morinville."
And he definitely went to school.
"The physicality and how hard you have to play each game," he explained when asked about what he took out of his rookie season. "This league is a bunch of grown men. If you don't come to play as hard as you can, you will get exposed. That's the biggest lesson I got out of my first year."
Matthew Osunde is one of just five returning players on a young Griffins team (David Moll photo).
Connolly sees great potential for Osunde to be a major impact player in Canada West as he grows into a veteran.
"He's one of, if not our best, players on the floor," he said. "But it's a process. This is only his second year. He's playing far above his years right now. The exciting part is the future. The exciting part is to see where Matty's going to go. The sky's the limit come his fifth year what he's going to be able to do for us."
That's kind of the theme of the entire Griffins team. They only five returning players from a squad that went winless in 2021-22 but boast a strong recruiting class of rookies and transfers.
They are a work in progress, but when it all clicks, this group could be special.
"Our first goal is to make the playoffs," said Connolly. "But the second goal the guys came up with is they just want to get better every day. Those are the things that we're monitoring, we're keeping track of for our stats and our player performances.
"The questions we ask: are you getting better today? As long as we continue to say every day we come out and get better, the process will take care of itself. Everything will fall into place. Wins will come, playoffs will come, championships will come if you worry about the process. Right now, this group is still learning about the process. They're doing everything that's asked of them. It's a great, fun group of guys."
