If opposing coaches think they can exploit or rattle the McMath Wildcats’ starting Grade 10 centre they will need to re-think their strategy.
Victor Radocaj not only plays beyond his years, no senior boys basketball game in this province is going to be too big for him. That goes with the territory of playing for your country at the U16 FIBA Americas Championships last summer in Argentina.
The 6-foot-7 standout was the lone B.C. player selected to the Canadian team and now will have a significant role with a McMath squad that will challenge for its first-ever provincial championship.
Radocaj helped the No. 4 “AAA” ranked Wildcats to a dominating 94-48 home floor win over No. 2 Bodwell last Friday night. The Wildcats also improved to 2-0 in league play with a 93-66 win over Steveston-London on Monday as they take aim at their first city title in over a decade.
“That was crazy. The most insane experience of my life,” smiled Radocaj of his national team stint. “Travelling with the team was fun and just training with the team improved me a lot. Overall, the experience was amazing. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Radocaj was among 35 players invited to Basketball Canada’s final selection camp in Toronto. The number of hopefuls were quickly reduced followed by more training sessions. Finally, the 12-player roster and two alternates were named. A few days later, the team was off to Argentina. All this was happening while Radocaj should have been winding down his Grade 9 year in school.
“I really didn’t expect to make it especially when I saw all the competition there,” he reflected. “It was really exciting (when the team was selected). I was able to catch up on all my grades so that really wasn’t such a big problem for such a unique opportunity.”
The 15-year-old is now going through the entire process again to potentially play for Canada at the U17 FIBA Worlds next year. He attended an open camp in Edmonton and is poised to be invited back to the invite-only camp in Toronto.
The DRIVE academy product has already made an impact at the senior level as a call-up player a year ago.
He helped the Wildcats to key wins over Steveston-London, McNair and MacNeill to clinch first place. He was ineligible for the post-season due to his duties with the Grade 9 team and it might have cost McMath a provincial berth.
This time he has full-time status and is part of an excellent mix of young and experienced talent. The Wildcats starting’ five also features Bryce Mason and Jordin Kojima — they are the only two First Team Richmond All-Stars from a year ago still playing. Mason is a third-year starter and will be one of the most prolific scorers in the province this season.
While two-time defending city champion Steveston-London is in somewhat of a rebuilding mode under head coach Mike Stoneburgh, the Richmond Colts and McNair Marlins are expected to be the Wildcats’ biggest threat within the city.
The Marlins already turned heads with their 75-72 exhibition win over No. 3 Byrne Creek, led by the 37-point performance of sharp shooter Tejvir Gill. Richmond High won their own Colt Classic on the weekend, defeating Okanagan-Mission 99-79 in the final.
The Colts will be led by Grade 12 standouts Daniel Afanasivevskyy and Murad Mohammed. They also benefit from incoming talent from the city champion junior team.
Richmond High travels to McNair on Thursday (7 p.m.) for a key early season battle. The Wildcats are at the Howard Tsumura Invitational in Langley where they will open play against Burnaby South.
The Richmond league also features longtime “AA” contenders RC Palmer and Cambie, along with Boyd, MacNeill, McRoberts, Richmond Christian and Burnett back in the loop for the first time in a couple of seasons.
