The York University Lions men’s basketball team has added five players to its roster for the upcoming Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) season.
Head coach Tom Oliveri, right, recently announced the commitment of 6’3″ guard Frank Stones of Orillia, 6’1″ guard Eylon Zemer of Toronto, 6’8″ forward Matthew Terejko of Brantford, 6’2″ guard Zack Labieniec of Toronto and 6’3″ guard Tut Rauch of Mississauga.
Stones was captain of two-time Orillia city champion Twin Lakes Secondary and was named team MVP as well as Athlete of the Year. He was also captain of the Orillia Thunder juvenile team which won bronze at the 2002 Ontario Championship.
Zemer played his high-school basketball at Newtonbrook Secondary where he was a Toronto Star first team All-Star and a two-time North Region All-Star. In 2001, he played for Canada at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.
In his final year at St. John’s College, Terejko led his team to a berth in the Central Western Ontario Championships. During his high school career, he was named Junior and Senior Athlete of the Year as well as Senior MVP for basketball, volleyball and track and field. Terejko also won an Ontario Championship with the Brantford juvenile Falcons.
Labieniec was captain and MVP of Michael Power/St. Joseph’s High School. A former member of Team Ontario, he was the starting point guard in all four years of high school. He was also captain of the Etobicoke Triple A Thunder club team.
As a player with Father Michael Goetz Secondary, Rauch was a Peel Region All-Star and was selected to the Toronto Star Dream Team. A team MVP and school Athlete of the Year, he was also named Mississauga Athlete of the Year.
“The coaching staff is extremely excited about this incoming class,” said Oliveri. “Not only do these five players provide a foundation for the future but they will all step in and contribute immediately.”
York finished third in the OUA East Division with a record of 13-9 last season. The Lions defeated the University of Toronto team in the OUA East Quarterfinals and the Royal Military College team in the Division Semifinals to advance to the CIS Final 10 Men’s Championship in Halifax. The York team, which entered the Final 10 Championship as the 10th seed, upset seventh seed University of British Columbia team and the second seed Laval University team before losing to the third seed St. Francis Xavier University men’s team in the Semifinals.
This article was submitted to YFile by Jim McLarty, sport and recreation information officer for the School of Kinesiology & Health Science.