Orangeville Prep: Developing Canada’s future basketball stars on home soil
This feature was originally written during Orangeville Prep’s 2019–20 season prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns in Canada. Revisions were made in 2023.
February 24, 2020.
Just 30 minutes northwest of Toronto, Ont., it is a sunny day in the town of Mono. The weather is unseasonably warm for a late winter afternoon. A drive towards Orangeville off Highway 9 leads to a sharp right turn and slight descent to a large complex: the Athlete Institute. Tucked away between multiple car dealerships and small pockets of housing, there is a large beige building accompanied by a separate training centre, dormitories and outside courts.
Despite the mundane look outside, everything inside, from the nets to the exercise equipment, are state-of-the-art. Athletes go back and forth to multiple gyms for their workouts. Strength training, cardio machines and even an espresso bar are all found here. At 3:30 p.m the institute’s top tier team, Orangeville Prep, takes to the fieldhouse court for the scheduled practice. Dribbling basketballs and blasting hip hop music fill the atmosphere. The waxed wooden court is draped with the institute’s signature red and black trimmings from the baseline to the high post. The walls are covered with major sponsors like Nike and BioSteel. At the centre wall is a banner of Orangeville Prep alumni and current NBA players Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets and Thon Maker of the Detroit Pistons. The message on the banner spells out: THE FUTURE IS HERE.
With a black Nike hoodie and matching sweatpants, forward Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe enters the fieldhouse ready for his warm-up. The lanky 6-foot-7 high school senior immediately starts with mid-range shots and running drills. Moncrieffe sports a determined, calm approach to his game with fluidity in his dribbling and confidence in the finishes at the rim. There is the occasional smile, but no animated celebrations from this player. Scouting reports from North Pole Hoops, an organization dedicated to tracking and helping aspiring Canadian basketball players, credits Moncrieffe with developing a more polished skill set during his time in Orangeville.
He was viewed as a raw prospect coming into Athlete Institute at 14-years-old physically and mentally, but with the potential to grow into a dominant force and leader on both ends of the court. These improved attributes like tighter handles and the ability to create his own offence are on full display today. Joining Moncrieffe on the floor are other Orangeville standouts putting in the work at opposing nets — Oakville native forward Coleman Stucke and guard Justice Prentice of Toronto. Stucke works on his three-point game while Prentice practices his drives to the basket.
Big news puts Orangeville Prep back in the junior ball spotlight. On Feb.21, Moncrieffe made the decision on his NCAA Division I commitment official through his Instagram and Twitter accounts. The forward commits to play for the Oklahoma State Cowboys after months of speculation, leaving other notable schools like Seton Hall, Georgetown, Florida and Arizona State on the table. Even before fully committing to an American university, Moncrieffe is already a minor celebrity among junior basketball fans locally and south of the border.
His dominance at elite junior tournaments like Grind Session and Nike Bounce have given the player the right amount of exposure to prospective scouts for nearly two years. Locally, Moncrieffe and Orangeville Prep rosters brimming with NCAA bound talent dominate in the OSBA (Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association) every season.
For his part, Moncrieffe has been named back-to-back Canadian high school player of the year as part of the Biosteel All-Canadian showcase. To date, he is the only player to win the award twice. Nationally, he starred for the under-19 Canadian team at FIBA tournaments and is expected to compete for a spot on the senior team in the future. For the class of 2020, Moncrieffe is a top 30 ranked player and a close second on the national board to fellow Canadian Keon Ambrose of Ohio’s International Sports Academy. For these accolades, Moncrieffe is lauded as one of the best to ever wear an Orangeville Prep jersey.
Originally from Vaughan, Ont., he made the decision four years ago to remain in Canada for his high school years and develop into an NBA calibre talent with the institute. He is following the lead of his former teammates who made it out of Canadian prep ball to the NCAA and then to the NBA: Luguentz Dort of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Oshae Brissett of the Toronto Raptors and Ignas Brazdeikis of the New York Knicks. It’s a group that follows Orangeville’s most celebrated alumni in Murray and Maker who became the model trendsetters for players staying in Canada to develop.
“It’s the best school in Canada,” says Moncrieffe. “They develop NBA talent.”
In nine short years, the Athlete Institute’s track record of producing NCAA and NBA talent is proving that Canada can develop its own basketball prospects without seeing them bolt for US prep schools. They’re as amazed as anyone else that it happened this fast. Institute president Jesse Tipping says it was perfect timing to capitalize on the growing talent pool. Now more than ever, Canadians are taking up basketball almost as much as they are with hockey. On top of that, enthusiasm for the defending NBA Champions, the Toronto Raptors, remains at an all-time high.
Tipping established the institute with business partner Alex Hoffman to give promising basketball players the opportunities to realize their athletic potential and ensure they can secure a post-secondary education. These are common goals of US prep schools, but the first of its kind in Canada. Other programs around the nation have since followed suit, but the institute remains the pioneer bolstering the most NBA talent to prove it. To counter the trend of Canadian players leaving for US schools almost exclusively, Tipping wanted to find a way to keep the talent on home soil and ensure the same opportunities are afforded to these players choosing to stay.
For Tipping, it was about acknowledging the changing culture around Canadian basketball and finding the best methods to help it grow. He wanted to show that Canadian players can compete and excel against their US counterparts in competitive tournaments like Grind Session. While the results were not immediate, Tipping believed the growing talent just needed the time and exposure to develop. The institute has three teams: Orangeville Prep is their top tier roster that travels to international tournaments. Athlete Institute Red and Black are considered developmental teams, with players striving to make it onto Orangeville Prep. All three teams compete in the OSBA.
Before the institute, Tipping was a star forward for Brock University and the University of Waterloo varsity teams. He played with the Orangeville A’s of the National League of Basketball of Canada, a professional Canadian team owned by the Tipping family. Their old building was then transformed into the Athlete Institute in its current version. To add in the educational components, Tipping partnered with the nearby Orangeville Prep secondary school to make the distance between practices and studying as small as possible. This is further aided by the institute’s own school buses for the players.
Standing approximately 6’5 with broad shoulders, a muscular frame and a long beard on a young face, Tipping can easily square up with the institute’s biggest athletes on the court. He does just that by being active with them in practices and one-on-one workouts. Tipping helps 6-foot-9 forward Jeff Ngandu with shooting drills, who is recovering from a recent knee surgery. The president contributes his own jump shots and dribbling techniques, showing flashes of his university days. The skills remain top notch with him knocking down consecutive three-pointers.
The “floodgates of Canadian talent,” as Tipping calls it, are the driving forces behind the institute’s inception and success. Since the 1995 inaugural season of the Raptors, Tipping says Canadians aiming for the pros continue to be inspired by the “[Vince]Carter effect” and “Raptors effect.” Vince Carter, Toronto’s first star from 1998 to 2005, entertained fans with his scoring ability, swagger and most notably, his highlight reel dunks. His windmill dunk at the 2000 NBA dunk contest won over North American fans, while his dunk over 7’2 centre Frédéric Weis of France during the Sydney Olympics cemented his worldwide celebrity status.
Carter was a major contributor to that “first love” for the fans who embraced the Raptors more than 20 years ago. Now, these fans have children wanting to play basketball at every level. The changing immigration policies in Canada from the late ’90s into the 2000s brought in more fans and future players as well. Tipping credits these new Canadians from basketball-loving countries in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia for growing the sport’s fandom. Fast forward to the 2010s with the arrival of Raptors president Masai Ujiri rallying fans around the “We the North” moniker and building a legitimate contender, and the love affair remains strong.
Orangeville Prep head coach Tony McIntyre could not agree more with the Raptors’ lasting effect on making the institute a developmental powerhouse. Since the Vancouver Grizzlies’ relocation to Memphis in 2001, the Raptors remain Canada’s sole NBA team and were thrust into becoming the face of Canadian basketball. Despite being American born, Carter remains the epitome of basketball succeeding and thriving in Canada.
McIntyre acknowledges Hall of Fame point guard and British Columbia native Steve Nash as a Canadian superstar whose accolades include two MVP awards and multiple All-Star selections. However, Nash was “untouchable” on the west coast, especially during his prime years with the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns in the early 2000s. Carter was “Canada’s own,” McIntyre says. “He [Steve Nash] wasn’t Toronto.” Ask any player at the institute, and it was Carter, not Nash, who first inspired their love of the game.
In what was heralded as the moment the institute gained its prominence among wider audiences, Murray (no.7) and Maker (no.10) were top ten selections during the 2016 NBA draft. “He [Murray] was the first player to buck the trend of going to the US and say, ‘I’m staying here,’” says McIntyre. As a Kitchener, Ont. native, Murray’s decision was a watershed moment for both the institute and the national basketball identity overall. Showcases like Nike Bounce, the Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit were moments when Murray’s star potential was on full display. His ability to score effortlessly and facilitate the offence were instrumental in helping Orangeville defeat several US schools and as he racked up multiple MVP honours in tournaments along the way.
Maker, a Sudanese native, came over to the institute to develop his draft stock and become the first prep-to-pro player (bypassing the NCAA) since 2005 when he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks. At the onset he was viewed as a special talent standing 7-feet tall with guard-like abilities. In an unconventional move, Maker left Carlisle prep school in Virginia to join the institute. Now a member of the Pistons, he continues to find his role in the NBA, while Murray has gone on to become the poster boy for the institute.
Murray secured a wealth of NCAA offers, opting to go with the prestigious Kentucky Wildcats. Bolstering multiple NCAA championships and consistent appearances in the Final Four during March Madness, the Wildcats are led by legendary head coach John Capliari. After one dominant year at Kentucky and now four years into his NBA career, Murray is the undisputed starting point guard for the Nuggets at 23- years-old, and is expected to be an All-Star soon.
He recently signed a five-year, US$170 million contract to remain with the Nuggets until 2025. It is the largest contract ever signed by a Canadian player, and it continues to pay off. Murray’s balanced skill set of playmaking, shooting and dribbling that led Orangeville up until 2015 are steadily improving at the pro level. This benefits a young Denver team trying to piece together a contender.
Before Moncrieffe, it was Murray who was collecting the awards and making the All-Canadian teams out of Orangeville. Like Moncrieffe, Murray became a local favourite and a player whose path would be followed throughout the skill levels. Murray was “a turning point” for the institute, according to McIntyre, and the point guard continues to be the forerunner of what players hope to accomplish at the institute by developing in the same winning, “ proven formula.”
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On the third floor of the institute, coach McIntyre finishes his meeting with other staff members. A middle-aged man with a buzzcut and neatly trimmed stubble, he is draped in Nike sportswear from head to toe. Entering his office, the attention is drawn to a collection of Nike Air Jordan sneakers displayed behind his desk. Other items on the shelves include memorabilia of Brampton, Ont. native Tyler Ennis, the former first round pick (no.18) of the Phoenix Suns in 2014. Ennis is currently the starting point guard for the Toronto Raptors’ G League affiliate, the Raptors 905. He also happens to be McIntyre’s son.
To the coach’s right, a large window extending from the ceiling to the floor looks out to the court with players still engaged in their warmups and small scrimmages. One seat is adjacent to McIntyre’s desk with a bench on the right. The blasting hip hop music and swooshes from the nets down below can still be heard in the office.
“When you talk top prep schools,” McIntyre says, “We’re there now.”
McIntyre is a well-known figure in Canada’s basketball community. Along with his roles at the institute as head coach and director of basketball operations, he is the CEO of Nike Bounce, a prominent Canadian basketball program that runs through the summer months. Established in 2004, Bounce has the elite AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) status associated with U.S. programs and Nike’s funding for team expenses. Alumni of Bounce are current NBA players like Murray, Andrew Wiggins and Tristan Thompson — all top ten selections in their respective drafts. Nike Bounce provides Canadian players (ages 14 to 17) a competitive program to showcase their talent to scouts, but it only runs for 10 days.
At these tournaments, McIntyre noticed that there was “no given pathway” for Canadian talent to excel on home soil year-round. A “synergy” according to McIntyre, would be found once Bounce and the institute can work with players for a whole year. The experience of Bounce allowed McIntyre to assess what works for US programs and how they develop players that consistently make it to the next level. Last summer, Moncrieffe was added to the Bounce roster along with other Canadian standouts like current Oregon Ducks forward and former OSBA star Addison Patterson.
To successfully implement this pathway, McIntyre emphasizes what he calls “a proven formula.” This goes down to ensuring the players are around the right people that will help them stay the course without outside voices who may pull the athlete in different directions. Staff are vetted to fit this common goal with extensive experience in player development the most crucial asset. The isolation of the institute is where this formula best excels. Without the distractions of outside influences and city life, it is only basketball and school for these players in the their subdued, remote location.
That’s made possible by the long stretches of simple roads, minimal buildings and the lack of a robust transit system. “It’s a no brainer,” says McIntyre. The institute is far enough from the distractions of downtown Toronto for example, but close enough that parents can still see their sons on the weekend. The formula is strict, but it is balanced and realistic for these teenagers. A typical day would include 5 A.M wake up calls, weight training and a team practice before the players head to school. While academics are the priority, players are expected to train for where they want to play at the next level almost immediately.
Another major aspect of this formula is the winning environment that encourages those dreams of the pro level. The institute enthusiastically celebrates its graduates and the abundance of Canadian draft selections every year, encouraging the current players to stay the course and let basketball take them as far as it can. “They[players] start saying, ‘damn, this is really doable.’”
The 2019–2020 NBA season began with a record 16 Canadians in opening lineups. Not included in this number are the Canadians in the G League. In the NCAA’S Division I, there are currently more than 150 Canadians. During the 2019 NCAA tournament, 24 Canadians were featured. This group was led by Duke guard R.J. Barrett, the number three pick in the 2019 NBA draft by the New York Knicks.
For the institute, that inspiration comes from former teammates. Moncrieffe seeing Dort, Brissett and Brazdeikis make the jump to the NCAA and the NBA after starring for Orangeville bridges what is the dream and what is possible. McIntyre says it is like “having your own, tangible real-life superhero in the same gym.”
These are the opportunities that were lacking or never available for the past generations. Michael Meeks says the mentality has shifted and erasing old assumptions over Canadian talent have brought upon this new system. He has firsthand experience as a professional player overseas in Europe and as a member of the Canadian men’s team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The difference he notices today is the shared spotlight of multiple players thriving. It is never just one Canadian player taking up the mantle in the NBA or NCAA anymore.
Starting as a forward for Canisius College in Buffalo, New York during the 1990s, he was one of the rare Canadians in the NCAA. His pro career brought him to Italy, Germany and Turkey before he transitioned into assistant coaching and his current position as manager of youth development with Canada Basketball. He sees the changing environment in his work in the recruitment process. Places like the Athlete Institute, which he says was the first to put more effort into gaining exposure for its players, have built a legacy of graduates that the younger players can track.
Meeks cites former NBA centre Bill Wennington as the only older player that younger players could relate to professionally in the ’90s. Wennington, who won three NBA championships with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, was a rare Canadian in the NBA 25 years ago. Before the recent surge of Canadian draft picks, the 2000s only had notable Canadians like Nash and former Los Angeles Lakers forward Rick Fox. Meeks remembers going through the same skill levels with Nash who, despite his eventual stardom, had to actively go to scouts on his own to be noticed before his scholarship to Santa Clara University.
Now, Canadian teams are participants in “best-on-best tournaments” and they are gaining a true sense of the necessary skills and mentality to make it. In turn, scouts take notice and are convinced to make the trips up north to assess the players, Meeks says. This is reflected in seeing the abundant choices he has for the next national men’s team for FIBA and the Tokyo Olympics. He is astounded to see the depth at nearly every position.
The national program is no longer dependent on a small set of players to make up a competitive squad like in years past. Another change, Meeks mentions, is seeing the established pros like Murray, Barrett, Thompson and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander verbally commit to play for the senior team. Unlike past squads dealing with NBA talent declining invitations, the new Canadian core wants to proudly represent their home internationally.
These best-on-best tournaments Meeks mentions continue for Orangeville Prep in early March. With more scouts and media in attendance as the season winds down, it means more opportunities for exposure. The games correlate with what will be the busiest time of the season for the institute. The soon-to-be class of 2020 graduates are contemplating and readying their official commitments to USPORTs (the Canadian university league) and NCAA schools. Orangeville brings its perfect season record (13–0) to the OSBA Final Eight. This tournament is immediately followed by a trip to Kentucky to compete in more games in the Grind Session against the top US prep schools.
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March 6–8, 2020.
The OSBA Final Eight tournament returns to Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC). The team prepares to face Markham’s Bill Crothers secondary school in the finals. Leading up to this game, Orangeville soundly defeats RISE Prep 103–69 and TRC Academy 89–78 in the first two time slots of the three-day tournament.
Tip-off is at 2 P.M. Parents, students, fans and media fill the bleachers. A group of middle-aged women make up a small cheering section for Bill Crothers. DEFENCE chants loudly echo through the arena during Orangeville’s possessions.
It is midway through the first quarter and it is already looking like a rout. By the quarter’s end, it is 27–14 in favour of Orangeville. Every time Moncrieffe has the ball, comments about his potential and dominance flutter around audience members, young and old. Some are of frustration over his ability to easily make shots- clearly Bill Crothers fans and invested parents. Others comment on his Oklahoma State commitment and what the future holds for the versatile forward.
With bright yellow sneakers contrasting his number 11 on a monochrome jersey, Moncrieffe drives to the basket, makes contact and draws the foul against his overmatched defenders. There’s never a moment of hesitation. His jump shots remain fluid like the institute practices and he makes the extra pass when necessary. He is playing an excellent two-way game by running for every loose ball and is never lost in transition.
Suddenly, he interrupts his calm approach with an aggressive slam dunk on a fast break. The crowd erupts as Moncrieffe casually returns to the defensive end. If his balanced game of filling every statistical category did not already impress, his dunk puts the entire arena on notice. The MAC is buzzing. Cheers, jeers and the odd hecklers are in full force. It does not matter. Orangeville controls this game.
Bill Crothers point guard Kobe Elvis refuses to relent. He does everything he can to keep his team in the game. Elvis is the game’s leading scorer with 30 points, but it is not enough. Matching up against Elvis is Orangeville’s Justice Prentice, who is finding open shots for his teammates at almost every possession. The Purdue University Fort Wayne recruit finishes with 20 points and six assists.
The second half is no different. Moncrieffe finishes with 19 points and six rebounds, but it is Coleman Stucke’s three-point barrage that erases any chance of a comeback. Finishing with 22 points, his defenders lose track of him on the corner shots. Forward Kyler Filewich pours in nine points and 10 rebounds, further adding to Bill Crothers’ woes.
Three minutes to go in the fourth quarter and victory is inevitable. Bill Crothers empties its bench players onto the court as a frustrated Elvis and Elijah Mahi, who finishes with 22 points, exit the game. The final buzzer sounds. Orangeville wins 96–74. Players, media and fans spill onto the court. Prentice wins tournament MVP before the championship trophy is handed over to McIntyre and the team.
“It feels good, I felt like I had a really big impact,” Moncrieffe says about his overall game. “It’s really rewarding.” His thoughts on the highlight reel dunk in the third quarter however, are kept humble. “I keep it low key,” he says. “We are supposed to just win these games.” He credits his teammates and coaching staff for the win, while mentioning this championship as a special one. He is soaking this one up a little more with his last high school eligibility year ending in just a few months.
Without much time to celebrate, Moncrieffe’s focus is on the next game. Later that night, the team leaves for Benton, Kentucky to compete in the Grind Session. It is their fifth appearance in the tournament. As the only Canadian representative, the team defeats Arizona’s Dream City Church high school, 66–56. Orangeville bows out in the next round after a 87–65 loss to Our Savior Lutheran, a New York state private school. Before heading back home, Moncrieffe is named to the Grind Session All-Star lineup for his efforts.
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After Grind Session, it is back to the institute to finish off the school year. This excitement surrounding Orangeville’s local and international success bodes well for its players gaining exposure and having a feel for their American counterparts.
Amid the highs of dominating the junior level however, are conversations on what’s next for some players. These discussions focus on the definition of success, and sometimes that has to be outside the realm of gaining NCAA offers or seeing a realistic path to the NBA for the graduating players.
Ensuring that players have security in their future has more to do with obtaining those post-secondary acceptances, according to Alex Dominato, the institute’s director of admissions and recruiting. The institute enforces the standard that every player maintains a high grade point average (GPA) to be qualified for post-secondary studies. Dominato is proud to see the increasing number of Canadians reaching the next levels, but he makes it clear to incoming players and their parents that not everyone is going to make it to the pros, or even to university sports.
“To play [NCAA] Division I basketball, you’re a one percent basketball player,” Dominato says. “Bar none.”
He says the institute has a higher average of players progressing to the next level compared to other Canadian schools, but it is not realistic to assume that once a player makes it to the institute, they are going to have a basketball career. These are tough conversations to have with teenagers that sacrificed so much to be away from loved ones, and be immersed in the institute’s rigorous training at 14-years-old.
In his work, Dominato’s project is to educate players of the realities once they graduate high school by affirming that it is not counterproductive to consider other options. He lets them know that pro basketball is not the only path after the institute. Despite the raw talent, there are several factors to consider for a player’s progression. Dominato mentions training, genetics and how a player is viewed in terms of their fit and role on a team. Hypothetically, unless a player under 6-feet-tall is already deemed a three to five-star recruit by senior year for example, there is concern over their potential to progress. “Not everybody is going to get there [Division I],” he says. “So, we are happy that everyone gets to go to university based on their academics.”
A player he points out is John Dhuol, a 2019 graduate. The forward is originally from Rumbek, South Sudan and is currently pursuing an engineering degree at Montana Tech University. Dhuol is playing Division II basketball for the school’s Orediggers. He made the decision to develop further in Canada as an international player like Maker, and it’s a success story that Jesse Tipping says is as monumental as Murray’s large contract extension with Denver.
Similarly, current Orangeville Prep forward Dyson Frank has committed to play for Pace University’s Division II basketball team in New York next season. Originally from Philadelphia, Frank jokes about the food in the remote town compared to his home city but praises the institute’s attention to both academics and athletics. The 6-foot-7 forward was a valuable defender off the bench during the OSBA Final Eight.
Dominato says it is about finding the right fit for every player when they graduate, even if it does not mean Division I. In these instances, the opportunity to gain a valuable education is the focus, and the ability to continue playing competitive basketball is the added bonus. Dominato says the same can be said about USPORTS for Canadian universities. He emphasizes its high level of basketball despite not getting the same recognition and praise as the NCAA.
It is a pathway that the institute encourages for several players, made evident by their wall of plaques celebrating all its graduates, NCAA and USPORTS equally. Institute alumni in USPORTS include Erik Wouters playing for the Brock University Badgers. Current Orangeville Prep player Elias Panagiotopoulos is committed to join the York University Lions next season.
The current gap between NCAA and USPORTS however, is not as large as it was once was, according to Michael Meeks. More players from Canadian universities, including Ryerson Rams centre Tanor Ngnom who declared for the 2020 NBA draft, are showing that this talent is something worth watching as well. Another pathway to consider is professional basketball in foreign leagues. While the number of Canadians in the NBA remains small, Meeks says fans should remember the vast number of Canadians playing overseas.
This includes point guard Kevin Pangos, who became a college star with the Gonzaga Bulldogs from 2011 to 2015. He is the all-time three-point scorer at his alma mater and turned professional with the Gran Canaria Spanish team. He is currently with FC Barcelona Bàsquet. Despite going undrafted in the NBA, he has been able to carve out a pro career and be on the potential list for Canada’s next Olympic team.
Steve Baur, a performance analyst and assistant coach for the Canadian national women’s team, agrees that the volume of talent rises as more avenues are created for Canadian universities. The bar, he says, continues to rise in USPORTS and athletes may choose that path even when NCAA opportunities are available. He sees this on the women’s side and believes this can be the case for the men as well. Bridging the gap between Canadian and US schools is benefited by the sponsoring and funding relationship between the national programs and junior programs.
For example, the “Own the Podium” initiative has brought in new opportunities for Canadian athletes that were not available to previous national squads and local junior programs. Originally created to prepare Canada’s 2010 winter Olympians for Vancouver, the program has since expanded to include summer sports like basketball. The funding goes to the national program, before being dispersed back to the grassroots of the junior programs and USPORTS, Baur says. Through these initiatives, the improving training grounds in Canada and all other aspects of the development process are seeing better results.
Essentially, while the ideal end goal is usually the NCAA with a chance to make it pro, the institute’s staff understands that this cannot be the case for all its players, and they want to prepare them for that reality as early as possible. The NCAA recruits and the NBA draft picks put the institute in the same breath as other elite programs, but the emphasis remains focused on planning for every option for a player’s future.
It is their sense of security, and it is crucial that players understand this right at the onset. Even without the prospects of a Division I scholarship, graduating players are still part of the proven pathway, and Dominato hopes these will be viewed equally as success stories — first by the players themselves and then by their peers.
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March 29, 2020
The 2019–2020 season is drawing to a close. Moncrieffe, Stucke and guard Shemar Rathan-Mayes are selected for the Biosteel All-Canadian game. The format is nearly identical to the US’ McDonald’s All-American game that gathers all the top players in the nation. There are exhibitions like the dunk contest and the festivities are capped off by the final game between the 24 selected players. It’s another best-on-best showcase and Canada’s most important showing of its talent outside of the FIBA tournaments. The University of Toronto’s Goldring Centre becomes central to Canadian basketball for one weekend.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic puts a suspension on the festivities with no formal cancellation having been made as of yet. It’s a disappointment for a showcase that continues to draw more attention from news networks and scouts. It is an annual check-up on the deepening talent pool. Nonetheless, the positive here is Orangeville having the most players on the star-studded roster. It’s another accolade added to Moncrieffe’s impressive resume as he finishes his final year.
Despite the awards, the junior championships and overwhelming recognition up to this point, he is not finished. His mind is set on that lifelong dream. “I want to play professionally.” At the cusp between junior ball and the NCAA, it is becoming more realistic than ever. “When I’ve had teammates who have gone on to have great NBA careers, it fuels the dream,” says Moncrieffe, remembering his time playing with Dort and Brissett two seasons ago.
As Dort and Brissett continue to impress as undrafted rookies at both the G League and NBA levels, Moncrieffe, like Brazdeikis, Murray and Maker, is expected to hear his name at the draft. Tony McIntyre believes the forward has yet to reach his full potential. If Moncrieffe were to be draft eligible today, the head coach believes he is easily an early to mid second round pick. With more development and further polish, Moncrieffe can become another first round pick from the institute. It is much too early to assume he makes the top 10 like Murray and Maker in 2016, but there is time for that possibility to grow.
Oklahoma State continues to be on the rise as its incoming recruits make them one of the most promising programs entering next season. Despite a 7–11 record in their BIG 12 division this year, Moncrieffe is joined by Cade Cunningham, the no.1 point guard in the class of 2020. For Moncrieffe, the possibility of a starting position and another winning culture await him. While no other Canadian as big as his name played for the Cowboys, their alumni include former Raptors forward Joey Graham and guard John Lucas III.
Whether Moncrieffe becomes a one-and-done player like Murray or plays out a few years of his college eligibility is a mystery at this point. He has not reached that thought yet. Discussions with McIntyre and the path to the pros have been there, but he knows it is a process. “I just want to be the best player I can be at the college level.” Whatever the choice, he is destined to join the increasing number of Canadians players making it to the pros. McIntyre is confident that this will become a reality. “Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe is someone you’re going to watch on television real soon.”
Despite the Canadian accolades at the NBA draft, Dominato believes fans are missing out on tracking this talent earlier and within the national borders. He mentions that Moncrieffe’s emergence correlates with that of Elijah Fisher of Crestwood Prep in North York, Ont. Fisher has three more years of high school eligibility and is expected to become another potential Canadian NBA draft pick. Similar to Moncrieffe and Murray, he said in a Slam Magazine interview that he hopes to “disrupt the system” and finish high school in Canada.
“People [in Canada] should be excited to watch a guy like Elijah Fisher, or Matthew-Alexander (Moncrieffe),” says Dominato. “These gyms should be packed because there’s something special happening.” Ironically, Tipping says the institute is still more well-known globally in the US, Sudan and even Hong Kong than it is nationally, or even locally around Orangeville. It is evidence of the popularity surrounding basketball internationally, but still needing the time to fully take hold in the Canadian identity. The foundation is there for that to happen. After fans looked to Nash as the lone national star, the last six years showed the immense growth of the game at every skill level with no signs of slowing down.
The institute remains at the forefront of helping this rising talent by building the right skill set for the next level and getting them that exposure. Tipping does not mind that most do not know about the institute because it is about the results and what is being accomplished for the sport in Canada. Murray remains their most well-known alumni, whose rise will continue to put more attention on the Canadian program.
Media and diehard junior basketball fans have taken notice of the institute, and it is only a matter of time before this reputation grows with more graduates showcased on television, overseas and on the draft boards. For the time being, Moncrieffe’s rise will aid in that, as his development becomes the next reference point of what a player can accomplish for Orangeville Prep and and the Athlete Institute.
