It isn’t often U Sports athletes get this sort of perk — exhibition games in the Bahamas and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
“Two international tournaments in one year is not a bad gig,” said University of Victoria Vikes men’s basketball head coach Murphy Burnatowski.
UVic will co-host the PVR Basketball Classic, that will involve the Vikes, University of Calgary Dinos, University of Regina Cougars and Queen’s University Golden Gaels and four Mexican university teams from Oct. 11-13 in Puerto Vallarta.
It follows up the Vikes’ trip last month to the Bahamas, where UVic lost 94-85 to the NCAA Div. 1 University of Rhode Island Rams before UVic rebounded by handily beating the Bahamas Selects team.
“We held our own against Rhode Island despite missing two key players [2023-24 U Sports national MVP Diego Maffia and new-recruit Sam Maillet] who were playing pro in the CEBL,” said Burnatowski.
Oak Bay Secondary grad and shooting sensation Maffia and wing-player Maillet, a New Brunswicker transferring from Dalhousie, have returned to varsity play and will be with the Vikes for the Puerto Vallarta tournament. It is that level of talent that should have UVic ranked No. 1 in the country when the first U Sports national top-10 poll is released.
This year’s cross-border games follow up UVic’s games against NCAA tournament teams Xavier and Penn State last year in the Bahamas. The Vikes’ international trips are facilitated through the efforts of Howard Kelsey, the two-time Canadian Olympian and former UVic athletic co-ordinator, who has strong international basketball connections.
These aren’t vacations, stressed Burnatowski, who has represented Canada and also played professionally all over the world. He wants his charges to learn from these international experiences: “The basketball styles are different in different countries. The Spanish, Mexican and South American style is intensely physical and demanding. Our players will learn from that while getting to have the eyes of international pro scouts on them. We are co-hosting in Puerto Vallarta and our aim is to win the tournament.”
Burnatowski, 33, knows the value of international play, both at the national team and club levels. The six-foot-seven forward came up in the Canadian junior national team program with the likes of eventual NBA players Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson, 2024 Paris Olympics player Kelly Olynyk and won a bronze medal with Canada at the 2008 Under-18 FIBA Americas. Burnatowski represented Canada in the 2017 AmeriCup in Argentina and played pro in Poland, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Cyprus, Thailand, Vietnam and was named all-Switzerland first team all-star, Euro Basket Bosman player of the year and to the all-Cypriot league defensive team.
Burnatowski in June became the sixth head coach in UVic men’s basketball history and replaced 21-season Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp, who departed to become lead assistant coach at the NCAA Div. 1 University of the Pacific Tigers in the West Coast Conference.
Before heading to Mexico, Burnatowski will take the Vikes across the Rockies to play in the Calgary Cup pre-season tournament Oct. 4-6, which will also include the Dinos, University of Alberta Golden Bears and Dalhousie Tigers.
The Canada West regular season opens for the Vikes in Langley on Oct. 31 against the Trinity Western Spartans, with the first home game Nov. 2 on Ken and Kathy Shields Court in CARSA gym against the University of Fraser Valley Cascades.
