The fifth annual All-Star Charity Shootout (ASCS) will feature 20 of the best basketball players across Canada. Whether they play at the college or university level or have taken their skills to the professional leagues of Europe, they will all come together to showcase their talent in the name of charity.
This year’s featured players:
Jared Mintz – Lafayette College – NCAA
A 6’8” forward ready to enter his senior year at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, Jared Mintz recently capped off a tremendously successful junior season in 2009-2010. The 22-year-old Biology major from Toronto, Ontario was named a member of the first-team All Patriot League team last year, averaging more than 14 points, five rebounds and two assists per game, while leading the Lafayette Leopards of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to a 19-13 overall record and a berth in the Patriot League championship final.
A fierce presence in the paint, Mintz has steadily worked his way to a starting role with the Leopards, playing 23 games as a freshman and 28 games as a sophomore with 13 starts in 2008-2009, posting five career double-doubles along the way. Before joining Lafayette in 2007, Mintz was a four-time MVP at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto and led his high school team of Vaughn Academy to a 42-9 record. He also represented Canada at the Pan-Am Maccabi Games in Chile in 2003 and the World Maccabi Games held in Israel in 2005.
Matthew Thornhill – McGill University – CIS
He may have played his entire 2009-2010 basketball season with a broken nose but it didn’t stop Matthew Thornhill from having an outstanding year on the court. The 6’4” guard from Île-Bizard, Quebec was named a member of the All-Canadian Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) team and most outstanding player of the year in the Quebec University Basketball League (QUBL) as a senior studying Management (Finance) at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
As a member of the Redmen, the 23-year-old led the QUBL in scoring, averaging more than 18 points per game and finished in the top ten in the conference in three-point shooting (second); free-throw percentage (third); minutes played (third); defensive rebounds (sixth); and field-goal shooting (ninth). He also finished 12th in steals and rebounding and also received All-Conference Team honours.
Coaches
Team War Child Canada – Bob Bain
Bob Bain is widely recognized as a coaching legend in men’s university basketball, having recently retired this past February after 37 years at the helm of the York men’s team. A two-time CIS coach of the year and six-time OUA coach of the year, Bain coached his final game for the Lions on February 20.
Where success is concerned, the numbers don’t lie for Bain. During his illustrious tenure, Bain led his teams to 11 OUA East Division championships, six OUA titles and two bronze medals in eight CIS championship tournament appearances. In those 37 years with Bain leading the way, the men’s basketball squad qualified for the playoffs 33 times.
Team Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons Foundation – Mike Katz
In 2004, Mike Katz, already one of the most renowned men’s basketball coaches in Canadian college history, made the jump to university basketball in 2004 and thus began another successful chapter in is coaching career.
Before joining the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, Katz spent 19 seasons as head coach of the men’s basketball team at Humber College, leading the Hawks to seven provincial championships and five national titles. In addition to being a four-time OCAA and three-time CIS coach of the year, Katz is also the assistant coach of the Canadian national basketball team and took part in the 2000 Olympic Games and world basketball championships in 1993 and 2002.
