Article By: Sean RooneyThe spectre of academic ineligibility has again cast its shadow on Medicine Hat College's men's basketball team.
After losing Emmanuel Ajayi to academics at the mid-point of the season, coach Craig Price found out before the Rattlers' first games of the second half that William Beard-Camp will also have to sit out this semester and get his grades in order.
Beard-Camp and Ajayi were the top two scorers on the team, and Beard-Camp was arguably its most important leader.
"I think we lost the two guys that gave us backbone," said Price, whose team is 1-3 since the break.
"I think that's where other people are having to step up and take a little bit more responsibility and pressure."
Most teams might as well fold the tent after such losses, but these Rattlers have dealt with plenty of adversity and skepticism already. Price was hired in mid-summer and patched together a roster with little time to spare. They went 6-4 through December and still have playoff aspirations despite now being 7-7.
"I think we're going to pull through," said guard Jordon Fray. "I think we just pull it together fast. We have to know each other fast and get lots of practice."
They also have a fresh face who's already lighting it up. Benny Bankazo, who has a bizarre connection with Fray, has averaged 23 points in four games including 31 in Saturday's 103-96 overtime loss at Lethbridge.
"I just had to get chemistry down with the team in the first game, because we didn't know how to fit in the system," said Bankazo, who grew up in Kitchener, Ont., but was in Moose Jaw with his dad when the Rattlers came calling. "But ever since then everything has been going good."
Bankazo first met Fray when the two were toddlers growing up in Ontario, but hadn't seen each other in 14 years. Fray, who had 26 points in the loss to Lethbridge, was shocked to find he'd once lived in the same apartment building with his new teammate.
"He recognized me, but I didn't recognize him," admitted Fray. "I didn't know he was coming to the school.
"I'm glad to have him, because he's scoring the ball, he's helping the team out."
Bankazo says he had opportunities to play college ball in the U.S., but his SAT scores weren't high enough. He essentially becomes like any other rookie this semester in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, and wouldn't be allowed back in the fall if his grades can't keep up.
He'd like to get a look in the NCAA, and sees this semester as a chance to get back on the court.
"All the hard work I was putting in, taking all that time off I knew as soon as I get a chance to play, I'm just going to go hard," said Bankazo, who's also averaged five assists and 6.75 rebounds so far.
"They took me in, everyone loved me out here. I like the team chemistry that we're building, it's like a family. I like it, everything's good."
Even with more players stepping up, the Rattlers couldn't need their current break any more. They'll be applying what they learned about building a team quickly yet again before their next games Feb. 1 and 2 against SAIT.
"People need to step up now is all it is," said Fray. "They need to step up and work hard."
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