Men’s UBL squad aiming to replicate Nationals success

The Eagles finished fourth in the first two seasons of the Men’s UBL competition and made their maiden appearance in the playoffs last year (2021 playoffs were aborted due to COVID), where they narrowly went down to eventual champions University of Sydney in a tight semi-final.

An injection of fresh faces prior to the Uni Nationals campaign in September last year saw La Trobe go to a new level in Perth, as they took all before them on the way to claiming the gold medal. With further quality talent added to the fold throughout the 2023 preseason, La Trobe co-captain Will Moio (pictured above) believes the platform is in place for a strong showing in this year’s UBL.

“We’ve had a few trainings and the boys have been really good,” Moio said.

“The boys are really gelling together; especially after the Nationals win last year where I think the culture is really carrying over (to this year’s UBL).

“The more changes we’ve had, the better we look, so it’s really exciting.”

Long-time La Trobe Men’s team stalwarts Ovie Magbegor, Christian Yammouni and Ade Akintola are among the graduating cohort that won’t be part of the 2023 UBL campaign, however Moio is confident the influx of new players to the squad will be enough to fill the sizeable hole left by the aforementioned star trio in particular.

“Obviously we’ve lost a few guys from last year and some guys who have been around for a while, so it will be sad to see them go,” Moio said.

“But the couple of additions that we have had like Lachie Vaner Vorm and Erik Kafritsas, and two of the boys who came to Nationals with us in Isaiah Harvey and Sam Holland are now in the UBL squad, so we’ve added some nice pieces defensively.

“Hopefully all of our guys can buy in to what we’re trying to achieve and this leads to good things.”

La Trobe University Men’s team coach Randy Shanklin is similarly upbeat about his squad’s prospects for this year’s UBL, believing the 2022 Uni Nationals performance has fuelled the belief within the wider team and allowed the Eagles’ next wave of leaders to step up and make their mark.

“When we started what I call our ‘professional run’ through the Nationals, we had some guys pick the up the baton from guys like Ov (Ovie Magbegor) and they’ve just taken on that leadership role, so it’s really good” Shanklin said.

“For some of the new guys coming in, it’s been seamless (how they have fitted in) and they’re flowing right into it, so it will be difficult trying to pick a team every single week.

“We’ve got a lot of talent, which is great for us going forward.”

As for the team’s expectations on what they can achieve in this year’s UBL, both Moio and Shanklin believe sticking to the process that has worked well in recent months will be the key recipe to success.

“I wouldn’t be a competitor if I didn’t say that we want to go all the way, but we are just going to take it week by week, play game by game and hopefully the record reflects how we think we’ll go,” Moio said.

“When it comes to finals, we can prove what we should have proved last year.”

Whilst a little more circumspect, Shanklin added, “I have heard expectations are a dangerous thing, but we have no expectations.”.

“I just expect the guys to buy in to what we’re trying to accomplish and everything else will take care of itself, just like it did at Nationals.”

For more information on the University Basketball League, visit the UniSport Australia website. To keep up-to-date with our Men’s and Women’s team’s results, follow La Trobe Sport on Facebook and Instagram.

2023 La Trobe University Men’s Basketball UBL Squad

Coach: Randy Shanklin (Altona Gators)

Assistant Coach: Cody Norman (Ringwood Hawks)

2023 La Trobe University Men’s Basketball UBL Fixture

Finals:

Week 1: Week commencing 15 May – Top 8 playoffs (centralised location TBC)

Week 2: Week commencing 22 May – Semi Finals (venues to be determined by ladder position)

Week 3: Week commencing 29 May – Grand Finals (venues to be determined by ladder position)