{"id":54686,"date":"2019-03-20T16:44:27","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T20:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=54686"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:03:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:03:34","slug":"mens-basketball-celebration","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/mens-basketball-celebration\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Campus Celebrates Men\u2019s Basketball Ravens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Campus Celebrates Men\u2019s Basketball Ravens\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Hard work. Defence. Rebounding. These qualities have long been the hallmark of basketball teams coached by Dave Smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their semi-final game<\/a> against the hometown Dalhousie Tigers at this year\u2019s U SPORTS national championships in Halifax, the Carleton Ravens men\u2019s basketball team held their opponents to just nine points in the fourth quarter for a come-from-behind victory en route to their 14th<\/sup> national title<\/a> in the last 17 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Dave Smart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, the fourth quarter of that game, that\u2019s what our culture is all about,\u201d Smart told a March 20 celebratory breakfast on campus. \u201cThey could not score. We struggled, but they could not score, and hopefully the lessons our players all learned over the past few weeks will carry over, not just in basketball, but in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis group, we had our ups and downs this season,\u201d continued Smart, who is moving from behind the bench<\/a> to become Director, Basketball Operations at Carleton, where he will be responsible for developing both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs and continue to build a culture of sport excellence at the university. Women\u2019s basketball coach Taffe Charles will step into the head coaching role with the men\u2019s team.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe weren\u2019t going great before Christmas. We were winning, but we weren\u2019t on a great path. I don\u2019t know what happened, but after Christmas, things changed. Our practices changed, and it was definitely noticeable. We were moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Smart credits the support of the entire university community \u2014 from the administration, alumni and athletics department \u2014 for the men\u2019s basketball program\u2019s sustained success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately, this team is where it is because of the foundation that\u2019s been put in place,\u201d he said. \u201cWithout it, there\u2019s no chance we\u2019d be where we are in terms of wins and losses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

Fourteen National Men’s Basketball Titles in 17 Years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFourteen national titles in 17 years \u2014 that\u2019s what we call a dynasty, perhaps the greatest dynasty in Canadian university sports,\u201d Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon<\/a> said at the breakfast, which was emceed by Vice-President (Students and Enrolment), Suzanne Blanchard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m personally thankful that you\u2019re not just a powerhouse on the court, but that you also contribute in a variety of ways in the community, in schools and with junior programs,\u201d Bacon told the players on the team.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s the culture that Dave has helped bring to this program. You embody the best values of Carleton.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Bacon listed some of Smart\u2019s amazing achievement as a coach \u2014 winning 92 per cent of his games over 19 seasons and being named Ontario\u2019s coach of the year 13 times \u2014 and thanked Smart for his continuing commitment to Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Bruce Marshall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaffe has big shoes to fill,\u201d said Bacon, \u201cbut I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll do great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bacon acknowledged four members of the team for their all-star performances this season (Marcus Anderson, Eddie Ekiyor, TJ Lall and Munis Tutu) and the three players who are graduating (Troy Reid-Knight, Mitch Jackson and Mitch Wood).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIn June, I\u2019ll get to shake your hands and give you your degrees,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m proud to work for this great institution, and the Ravens are a big part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThere is certainly a culture of perseverance and determination here,\u201d added Bruce Marshall, Carleton\u2019s assistant director of High Performance Sport, speaking on behalf of Recreation and Athletics Director Jennifer Brenning, who was out of the country and could not attend. \u201cAnd that culture is both on the court and in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

Operational Support, Mentorship and Technical Leadership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Smart\u2019s new role entails providing operational support, mentorship and technical leadership to the coaching staff of the two basketball programs, working with the Department of University Advancement<\/a> in fundraising and community development, and providing mentorship to other varsity team coaches at Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoaching is my second love, my first being my wife and children,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI am very thankful to the university and I am looking forward to my new role. This gives me an opportunity to stay involved in basketball while having more time to spend with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI am pleased that Dave has accepted this new challenge where he will build on the legacy he created as head coach of the men\u2019s basketball program,\u201d said Blanchard. \u201cDave\u2019s program has brought a profile of excellence that has attracted top student-athletes, both nationally and internationally. The impact of the success of this program is seen not only in our recruitment efforts, but also in our community pride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton
Suzanne Blanchard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smart has also represented Canada Basketball on the international stage as an assistant coach with the national senior men\u2019s basketball team and head coach of the men\u2019s under-18 team that won silver at the FIBA U18 Americas tournament in St. Catharines, Ont., last year. And he has helped numerous former Ravens make the transition to professional basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDave Smart is not just any college basketball coach,\u201d Matt Giles wrote last year in a feature about Smart<\/a> in the American online sports publication Deadspin<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cSmart is a defensive guru, a legend in the sport, to whom Division I\u2019s top coaches regularly make pilgrimages to learn at his feet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cDave\u2019s coaching style is super intense but it\u2019s also individually directed,\u201d Jay Triano \u2014 a former Canadian national team and NBA head coach who is currently an assistant with the Charlotte Hornets \u2014 is quoted as saying in the story. \u201cHe has a unique talent of being authoritative but also getting across to his players that he knows what is best for them and how they can progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n

A Tremendous Record of Success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Taffe Charles<\/a> also has a tremendous record of success in 12 years as head coach of the women\u2019s basketball team, including its first national championship<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am truly honoured to be entrusted as the next head coach of the men\u2019s basketball program,\u201d said Charles, who played for the team from 1990 to 1995 and began his coaching career as assistant with the women\u2019s program in 1995 before joining the men\u2019s program as an assistant from 1998 to 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Carleton<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI look forward to the challenge of continuing the high standard of excellence that has been set by Coach Smart, his coaching staff and the players.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since his return to the women\u2019s program in 2007, Charles has helped the team make great strides, earning four U SPORTS Final 8 berths, four OUA East titles, and two OUA Critelli Cup Championship titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017-2018, after a record-breaking season during which the team won all its games, Charles brought home the program\u2019s first national championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carleton has launched a national search<\/a> for a head coach for the women\u2019s basketball program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hard work. Defence. Rebounding. These qualities have long been the hallmark of basketball teams coached by Dave Smart. In their semi-final game against the hometown Dalhousie Tigers at this year\u2019s U SPORTS national championships in Halifax, the Carleton Ravens men\u2019s basketball team held their opponents to just nine points in the fourth quarter for a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":54699,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[18],"cu_story_tag":[1928],"class_list":["post-54686","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-athletics-recreation","cu_story_tag-athletics"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97854,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/54686\/revisions\/97854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=54686"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=54686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}