Cracks emerging in Carleton’s command of Canadian university basketball world

The only certainties in life, it seems, are death, taxes and the Carleton University Ravens men’s basketball team dominating its competition over and over again.

The dynasty is unparalleled, the numbers overwhelming: always looming as a “giant elephant” and a “mountain” in the estimation of rival University of Ottawa Gee-Gees coach James Derouin.

Article content

The Ravens have won 17 of the past 20 national titles, including a thrilling double overtime championship game victory over St. Francis Xavier to win the 2023 title last March. Coupled with a victory by the Ravens women’s squad, it marked the first time in 38 years one university had claimed both titles.

Article content

In two decades of conference play, the Ravens posted a record of 402 wins and a mere 21 losses, a Harlem Globetrotters-esque run that included a consecutive 87-game victory streak from 2003-06.

But maybe, just maybe, that wall of invincibility is finally crumbling.

When the weekly USports Top-10 rankings came out on Wednesday, the Ravens found themselves on the outside looking in.

The last time that happened — in October, 2000 — most of the current roster wasn’t born yet.

The Ravens went into this weekend’s games against Nipissing and Laurentian with a modest 6-6 record, fourth in the Ontario University Athletic East standings.

Ravens coach Taffe Charles declined Postmedia’s interview requests, but earlier this year told The Charlatan, Carleton University’s campus newspaper, that the mandate is different this time around. The entire starting line-up graduated after last year’s triumph.

“We’re not going to win this year,” said Charles, in his fifth season as coach since replacing the legendary Dave Smart. “I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve seen all those championships up there (in the rafters). I know what it takes. We’re just too young.”

Article content

Charles was star with the Ravens from 1990-95 and previously coached the women’s program for a dozen seasons.

He told online university sports forum 49-sport.com that he’s been forced to push his youngest players to “bite off more than they can chew” in trying to keep up the lofty standards.

In keeping with the sea change at the Ravens Nest, Carleton’s home gym, Smart left as the program’s director of basketball operations in July to become an assistant coach at Texas Tech University.

Smart, who started at Carleton as an assistant in 1996, was USports coach of the year 10 times while leading the Ravens to 13 of its 17 championships.

For all that, Derouin isn’t ready to count out his cross-town competition just yet. He has seen them rally from behind far too often before, always standing in the way of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees securing a national title of their own.

The Gee-Gees are knocking on the door, entering the weekend with a 12-1 record, ranked second in the country. The Gee-Gees have also been a Top 10 team since 2012, now representing the longest unbroken stretch in Canada.

Article content

“(The Ravens) are still a very good team and they just knocked off Queen’s, a top team,” said Derouin. “They’re very well coached, they’re getting better and they’re dangerous.”

He does, however, allow that seeing the Ravens in an unfamiliar spot in the middle of the standings has removed a “psychological” barrier for all the Ontario teams aiming to take their spot.

“That run, they’ve probably gone through four or five full recruiting cycles, has had an impact on all the programs,” said Derouin, who also doubles as head coach of the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Ottawa BlackJacks.

“This does make things interesting for all the teams from that standpoint that everyone now thinks they’ve got a shot.”

kwarren@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/Citizenkwarren

Article content