2011-12 GPRC Men's Basketball

Wolves Donate to Those in Need IT’S COLD OUT THERE!  It’s -40C and the Wolves Men’s Basketball Team once again donate to the less fortunate. In what has become an annual donation, team captain Josh Nicol delivers another bag of toques and gloves to the Salvation Army. This is the second such donation this year. “It’s really cold out there and I think it’s important that we all do something to help the less fortunate. I believe that acts such as this, along with the other volunteer activities we do as a team, are important.  Setting an example of ‘service to others’ helps to teach young men lessons that go beyond sport.”  Coach Nicol

“consider initiating your own acts of kindness . . . pay it forward as the saying goes ... there are no small acts of kindness and most actions are free”

Men's Basketball Schedule January 16 - 22

GPRC WOLVES ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Name:Nicolaos Maniatis	Name:Andrew Burston
Program:Bachelor of Phys Education	Program:Business Administration
Home Town: Piraeus, Greece	Home Town: Olds, AB
High School: Pierce College	High School: Olds HS
Nicolaos joins the Wolves from Greece where he played in the Greek development system. The dual citizen moved to Canada to re-join his father and fulfill his dream of playing college basketball. He is an excellent athlete that can play a variety of positions. Nic is acclimatizing himself to a new culture (and new weather patterns).	Andrew returns for his second with his ‘no-nonsense” hard working approach to the game. Andrew’s toughness and solid fundamental skill set allow him to play much bigger in the post than his size would indicate. His skill set and understanding of the game have both grown tremendously since his arrival.

Wolves men on road to respectability

By IVAN DANIELEWICZ Herald-Tribune staff

Normally a .500 winning percentage with a 3-3 record is nothing to write about.

For the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves men's basketball team, it shows progress. After just 10 combined wins over the past three years, the team's three wins and three loses this season represent its best start since the 2006/07 season.

To read more on this story go to http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3369179

WOLVES HONOR THE MEMORY OF THE FALLEN WARRIORS (GP Comp Football Team)

Members of the GPRC Wolves Men’s Basketball Team paid honor to GPCHS Football Team who lost four members of their team in a tragic accident.  The Wolves held a minute of silence and team prayer prior to last Saturday’s game versus Kings after hearing of the news. The Wolves, several of whom are Comp football alumni, proudly wore orange uniform bands in their games at MacEwan following a brief public address announcement prior to the game.

The GPRC Wolves Men’s Basketball Family extend their heartfelt thoughts, prayers and condolences out to the GPCHS Warriors Football Family and to all those touched by this tragedy.

PRE-SEASON A GOOD LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR YOUNG WOLVES

The GPRC Wolves men’s basketball embarked on an ambitious pre-season schedule designed to give the young squad an introduction to the rigors of training and competing at the college level as well the opportunity to form a tight team bond.  After completing a physically demanding two week two a day training camp, the group held a successful team retreat at the Nordic XC Ski Trails.  The retreat was a tremendous opportunity to enjoy some outdoor activity and to lay the foundation for the upcoming year.

The Wolves opened the pre-season by scrimmaging with a select group of local talent loaded with former ACAC and CIS talent many of whom are ex-Wolves. The young Wolves headed in to Edmonton for the Dr. Robert Day tournament at the Kings University for three games.   This proved to be a valuable experience as the team did some good things and learned to focus on the process and the controlables of the game.  Slow starts resulted in the squad coming up empty in the win column but some valuable lessons were gained over the course of the weekend.  GPRC hosted a rare pre-season home stand against Olds College and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC).  The Wolves displayed confidence and better execution in game one versus the Broncos and their efforts were rewarded with a notch in the win column. Next up was a tough, experienced and nationally ranked UNBC squad. UNBC will enter the CIS next year and hosting the Timberwolves proved to be very positive as the Wolves saw first-hand the level of toughness and execution required to compete at the next level.  The highlight of the pre-season was definitely the long road trip to Butte, MT to play the Diggers of Montana Tech.  The NAIA Division One school gave the Wolves a taste of the quick, physically tough style of play expected from American college competition. Aside from the 36 hours of driving, the trip proved to be a tremendous experience both on and off the court and a excellent conclusion to the pre-season schedule. The Wolves emerged from the pre-season journey as a tight knit squad looking forward to the opportunity of the season that lies ahead.

2011-12 WOLVES LOADED WITH LOCAL FLAVOR

The 2011-12 version of the Wolves Men’s Basketball team has a distinct local flavor.

Grande Prairie Composite High School boasts six members of this year’s Wolves Men’s Basketball team.  Former Tomahawks Josh Nicol, Jamison Plett, Tyler Przybylski, Troy Trump and Leif Carstairs have all found a home with the Wolves.  Jarrett Zimmerman, also a Comp grad has re-joined the Wolves in an apprentice coach role. St. Joe’s product Dillon Kramps is the seventh member of the Wolves squad from Grande Prairie. As an added bonus, all seven of these young men are also graduates of our summer club development system.

Travis Hunt, a Kinuso product, returns to the squad for his third year while freshman Eric Hansen joins the Wolves from Fort St John. 

Oddly enough, even Greek import Nicolaos Maniatis has local connections as his father has been living and working in the Grande Prairie area for a number of years.

Anyway you slice it, the GPRC Wolves are the Peace Country’s team.

Athletes of the Week
Josh Nicol Men's Basketball	Jon Hanna Men's Basketball
Home Town: Grande Prairie, AB	Home Town: Terrace, BC
High School: GP Comp HS	High School: Caledonia HS
Grande Prairie’s Josh Nicol is a pure point guard and natural floor leader. Josh has worked extremely hard in the off-season and has added size, strength and a scorers touch. He is excited to step into a leadership role. In selecting Josh as co-captain, teammates cited characteristics such as hard working, leading by example, demonstrating composure and dependability, a positive role model, teammate and leader both on and off the floor. Josh has been a leader at every level of basketball at which he has competed and has stepped into that role in his second year with the Wolves.	Jon returns to the team focused and mature after taking a year away from school to see the world. Teammates noted Jon’s tremendous work ethic and energy, his experience, communication skills and positive approach to all he does as major factors in his selection as co-captain. Jon is an extremely quick player with a scoring touch. He can be lockdown one on one defender. Jon is a great leader in the locker room and his year away has matured his approach to life and basketball tremendously.

GPRC WOLVES MEN’S BASKETBALL    “WOLVES SELECT TEAM CAPTAINS”   Sept 28, 2011

Leaders lead not just by words but by their example. Leaders are often the hardest workers on a team. Leaders know the team's goals, and know what needs to be accomplished. Being a leader is tough and demanding. It means being accountable and doing the right thing. Any leader realizes that you can't do it alone - that is what team is all about. As Kipling so aptly described, “The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” We believe that this year we will have sixteen leaders on the team who will be represented extremely well by their two captains.

After a nearly a month together, the players have made their decisions on who they feel will best lead them in the role of team captain. Each player was asked to list their selections in order of first, second and third choice and then provide a rationale for each selection.

 “Your captains are the undeniable heart and soul of your team.  They are not a luxury but a vital necessity to your program's success.” J Jansen" The quality of your team leaders can make or break your season." K Yow  

The team made their collective voice heard as they selected second year point guard Josh Nicol to lead the squad. The players cited characteristics such as hard working, leading by example, demonstrating composure and dependability, a positive role model, teammate and leader both on and off the floor.  Josh has been a leader at every level of basketball at which he has competed and has stepped into that role in his second year with the Wolves.

Sharing the captaincy is third year guard and former captain Jon Hanna.  Jon returns to the team focused and mature after taking a year away from school to see the world.  Teammates noted Jon’s tremendous work ethic and energy, his experience, communication skills and positive approach to all he does as major factors in his selection. Jon is a great leader in the locker room and his year away has matured his approach to life and basketball tremendously.

"Talent is important. But the single most important ingredient after you get the talent is internal leadership. It's not the coaches, as much as one single person or people on the team who set higher standards than that team would normally set for itself." M Krzyzewski

The coaching staff is pleased with the selection process and look forward to working with these two fine young men in their new roles of representing a team full of good character.

For more information on Wolves Mens' Basketball contact:

Chris Nicol, Head Coach
Grande Prairie Regional College
Ph: 780-539-2838
Cell: 780-933-2838
E-mail: cnicol@gprc.ab.ca