2025/26 Pac West Preview

With so many people enjoying my ACAC preview last season, I have decided to extend it west to highlight the PacWest Conference. It is a much smaller conference with only 7 teams representing all of BC. They have traditionally done very well at nationals and have some amazing programs.

This year, they will be sending 2 teams to Nationals, as Vancouver Island University will be hosting, and that means the league champion and the hosts will be playing. Each team plays 24 games, 4 against each of the other 6 squads.

I’m grateful to the league’s coaches who shared their team outlooks for this season. I ranked the teams based on returning players, transfers, recruits, preseason games, and my own assessments.

1. Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners

The 2024/25 season did not end up the way Coach Matt Kuzminski wanted his first season to go, as the team finished 1st in the regular season but came up short in the PacWest gold medal game and didn't get a chance to compete at nationals. This season will be different as they are guaranteed a spot as the hosts, but would much prefer to go as the PasWest champions instead.

They lose a couple of starters but with a solid returning core of Kai Leighton (5th; Prince Rupert, BC), Ryan Bastian (4th; Ladysmith, BC), Kye Tinga (3rd; Comox, BC), and Marcus Modrovic (4th; Victoria, BC). They will be adding some transfers in Ekman Sohal (3rd; Surrey, BC), Winston Cole (4th; Seattle, WA), and Levi Van Egdom (4th; Chilliwack, BC), along with freshman Ty Cyr (1st; Port Alberni, BC).

This team has only one freshman on the roster and is undoubtedly built to compete for a national championship. They will play in front of some of the best basketball fans in the country, as the culture that has been created on Vancouver Island is very underrated.

2. Camosun Chargers

The Chargers will be entering this season with a new Coach, former assistant and PacWest All-star Jake Wilmott will be replacing Geoff Pippus, who is now the head coach at the University of Alberta. They will be returning a lot of the roster that led them to a bronze medal last season.

David Finch (4th; Vancouver, BC) was an all-Canadian last season and is joined by a returning lineup including Cole Belton(5th; Victoria, BC), Cormick Brown (5th; Victoria, BC), Aiden Walsh (4th; Courtney, BC), and more. With David Featherston (5th; Sierra Vista, AZ) coming from Capilano and Owen Jones (4th; Victoria, BC) from Langara joining the squad, along with highly recruited freshman Diem Orser (1st; Victoria, BC), this team will be contenders to play at nationals, which will be just an hour drive from their campus.

3. Capilano Blues

Last season ended with Capilano struggling out at CCAA nationals after winning the PacWest Gold medal, upsetting both VIU and Camosun during their spectacular championship run. They will enter this season with a new head coach as TJ Klim will take over for Jason Price.

The Blues will see a solid group returning, led by first-team all-star Kash Lang (5th, Lewiston, ID), along with Zach Klim (4th; Chilliwack, BC), Justin Pamintuan (2nd; New Westminster, BC), and Carter Andrade (2nd; North Vancouver, BC). VIU transfer Peter Li (5th; Qingdao, China) brings experience and competitiveness, as will Alfonso Reyes (1st, Madrid, Spain). This is a big team, and a returning Zach Hamed (1st; Port Moody, BC), who had taken time away last year, will make them a very hard team to match up with.

This team will push very hard for a berth to nationals, and as they proved last year, all they need to do is be ready come playoffs.

4. Langara Falcons

Langara will be ready to play as they return second-team all-star Luka Subotic (2nd; Vancouver, BC), Pat Robinson (4th; Baker City, OR), Edriel Asirit (4th; Surrey, BC), and Nixon Owusu (2nd; Vancouver, BC). They will be joined by Grande Prairie transfer Aaron Ungprasert and a strong group of freshmen, including Hartej Aujla (1st; Surrey, BC), Justin Best (1st; Pitt Meadows, BC), and Brahm Nair (1st; Vancouver, BC). Coach Cassidy Kannemeyer has built a team with good size that will be pushing very hard to earn a berth to nationals.

5. Douglas Royals

Coach Matt McKay is slowly building his program and will field a younger team that has a lot of potential. Hunter Thomson (5th; Victoria, BC) will lead a group of returning players that includes Kaniyen Duncan (2nd; Calgary, AB), Jesse Connolly (2nd; Surrey, BC), Griffin White (2md; Maple Ridge, BC), Efe Ilici (3rd; Ayazagah, Turkey), and Lorenzo Bonamin (3rd; Burnaby, BC). Expect the newcomers to also make an impact as they add transfer Derrick Monroe ( 3rd; Las Vegas, NV) from Feather River College and freshmen Olan Smith (1st; Burnaby, BC) and Demi Akinmoyero (1st; Saskatoon, SK).

While I have them in the 5th spot, I think 3-5 will be a dogfight, which will make the opening playoff rounds super exciting.

6. Okanagan Coyotes

Last Season, the Coyotes finished last and missed the playoffs. The lost former PacWest All-Star Manny Binden, who transferred to USport, but Coach Gini has brought in a good recruiting class that will hopefully get them to the playoffs this season. They will count of transfers Noah Steingart (3rd; Carstairs, AB) from St Mary's and Ryan Dekleva (3rd; Kelowna, BC) from SAIT to provide scoring along with freshmen Inder Deol (1st; Vancouver, BC) and Timi Orifa (1st; Calgary, AB).

7. Columbia Bible College Bearcats

I could not find much information on the Bearcats other than some games they played in Calgary this preseason, where they struggled. They have signed some solid freshmen and will be a work in progress this year.