| Title: | Head Coach |
Alex Van Samang enters his third season as the head coach of the men's basketball program in 2023-24.
The North Shore native led the Blues to an 11-7 mark in the 2022-23 season which was good for third place in the PACWEST standings.
For the second year in a row, the Blues outperformed their No. 3 seeding at the PACWEST provincial tournament as they defeated Okanagan College in the quarter-final and upset No. 2 Camosun College in the semis. This set up a rematch of the 2022 gold-medal game with top-seeded Vancouver Island University. After leading in the early minutes, CapU would trail most of the game but staged an epic comeback in the fourth quarter punctuated by a clutch three from fifth-year guard CJ Campbell that clinched the Blues' first PACWEST title since 2003.
At CCAA nationals, the Blues forced overtime in their opener against Toronto's George Brown College on a dramatic buzzer-beating three from Josh Dhillon but they'd lose in OT. A win against the Holland College Hurricanes of P.E.I. would follow before Capilano dropped their final game to the St. Clair Saints of Windsor, Ont. Tyrone Asenoguan was named a tournament all-star for the second year in a row.
Looking to 2023-24, Van Samang's team returns U.S. import forward David Featherston who impressed last season after joining the team in the second half of the schedule. Zach Klim also showed well late in the season at PACWEST provincials and the CCAAs using his 6-foot-11 frame to get to the rim and clean the glass. Russell Curley mostly came off the bench in 2022-23 but still earned a spot on the PACWEST All-Rookie Team while first-year forward Josh Vandevelde proved able to contribute as a true freshman and should get significant minutes in the year ahead.
Van Samang has previous PACWEST head coach experience from his time at Quest University from 2016 to 2018 where he led the Kermodes to the playoffs both seasons. Van Samang's most recent post prior to CapU was as an assistant coach with the 2020 PACWEST champion Douglas College Royals, working alongside Joe Enevoldson.
Van Samang has also worked in the high school ranks as a senior coach and athletic director at North Vancouver's Windsor Secondary and with Basketball BC where he has twice coached provincial teams at the U15 level and another at the U14 level.
CapU Head Coaching Record:
PACWEST Regular Season Record: 33-25
PACWEST Playoff Record: 7-2
2023-24 - PACWEST Bronze Medal
2022-23 - PACWEST Gold Medal
2021-22 - PACWEST Silver Medal