A scout at a basketball camp in Olds says Alberta is the “sleeping giant” of the sport.
As the founder of North Pole Hoops (NPH), a Canadian basketball media and scouting service, Tariq Sbiet has scoured the country for future NBA and NCAA Division I prospects.
Some of them have included Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Nik Stauskas, all from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) who have been drafted by NBA teams.
From August 29 to 31, Sbiet brought NPH to Olds' Ralph Klein Centre gym for the organization's first Showcase in Alberta, a camp featuring some of the province's best basketball players aged 13 to 18.
According to Sbiet, who hails from Mississauga, Ont. (adjacent to Toronto), Alberta is loaded with potential as a basketball province — all it needs is some guidance.
“I refer to it as the sleeping giant in terms of talent because there's a great genetic pool. A great gene pool of athleticism, length and size but there's not the direction that there needs (to be) for these kids to maximize their potential,” Sbiet said.
Sbiet, 25, said three to five of the approximately 50 campers have a shot to play at the Division I level and possibly beyond.
Fifteen-year-old Simar Bajwa from Calgary was one participant who wants to get there and the Showcase was a chance to square up against the province's best prospects.
“Just getting to play better competition, guys that are older than me and push me to get better,” Bajwa said about his highlights from the camp.
Balkar Bajwa, his father, said he hopes his son, who took an interest in the sport in Grade 3, will get noticed as a result of the camp.
“He wants to play college and hopefully (at) a very good school. He's working to be recognized and to be seen,” Balkar said. “He's a very good kid. We're very proud parents. He's a very humble kid, definitely, very respectful, super coachable. He is also a very good student as well. As a parent, you couldn't ask for more.”
On the last day of the camp, the best players as judged by the coaches, were chosen to play one final game.
Bajwa played on Team White, which ended up losing 108-93 to Team Black. However, he was named the Most Valuable Player for the underclassmen, an honour given to players in grades 9 and 10.
However, the camp was about more than just tightening up a player's ball handling or teaching a twine-tickling jumpshot. One key focus of the event, Sbiet said, was character development, including lessons on how to use social media correctly.
Sbiet said he's known of one player from Alberta whose postings online cost him a college scholarship.
“They loved him as a talent, as a basketball player, then saw some things online, on Twitter,” he said. “They kind of backed off. They lost interest in that prospect because of the things that were being said.”
Coaches are watching, he added, and vulgarity and unprofessionalism online affect the perception of a player's character.
“It's not just a basketball thing. It's a life thing,” he said.
At the NBA level, where millions of dollars are invested in players, people care that they have desirable traits, like good character and leadership ability, he continued.
Humility would be another, which can be a challenge in this province.
Because the pool of talent isn't as deep as other regions, the best players dominate the competition and lose their hunger to improve, Sbiet said.
“That's the problem with Alberta kids. They sometimes settle for mediocrity. We're trying to show them that hey, it's unacceptable. You have to reach your potential, whatever it is,” he said. “How you react to success is just as important as how you react to failure.”
Can Alberta produce as much talent as the GTA does? Sbiet said it's tough to compare the two regions.
“It is a hotbed. It's on fire. Kids are hungry out there because there's a real competitive level there where they're clashing against each other consistently and they're all trying to get to the top of the charts,” he said.
Sbiet said players can come from all parts of the world and it's more important that they apply the lessons learned at camp consistently.
He adds that according to NPH's motto, “Game Speaks,” the only thing that matters is a person's ability on the court.
“It doesn't matter how tall you are, what colour you are, where you're from. It's just about your talent. Bring your talent to the game and let (your) game speak on the hardwood.”
