Mike L’Africain, a fifth-year guard from the University of Ottawa, was named the CIS player of the year in men’s basketball on Wednesday night.
L’Africain, a communications student from Oakville, Ont., became the second straight Gee-Gee to claim the Mike Moser Memorial Trophy after former teammate Johnny Berhanemeskel, who was the program’s first-ever recipient in 2015.
The 6-foot-1 senior led his team in points (20.4) and assists (5.3) per game this season, which were both career highs and ranked him fifth and third in the OUA conference, respectively. He also led the Gee-Gees in minutes (31.4 per game), three-pointers made (51 – 41.8%) and free throws made (67 – 85.9%), and added 36 steals at the defensive end over the course of a CIS-best 17-2 regular season.
L’Africain leaves Ottawa as the program’s all-time leader in assists (406) and fourth in career points (1272). He was the OUA East rookie of the year and was named to the CIS all-rookie team back in 2011-12.
"A coach will always tell a point guard that he is responsible for one thing only and that’s the team winning. Mike has made that happen for his whole career and it is a testament to his work ethic and his love for the game," said Gee-Gees head coach James Derouin in a press release. "Players love to play with Mike and he’s always been a team-first guy, so to see him get this recognition is really special."
Other CIS award winners announced during the All-Canadian Awards Gala held at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver were fellow Ottawa guard Caleb Agada, who was voted the defensive player of the year; Windsor guard Isiah Osborne, who received the Dr. Peter Mullins Trophy as rookie of the year; Ryerson sideline boss Patrick Tatham, who merited the Stuart W. Aberdeen Memorial Trophy as the TIMEX coach of the year; as well as McGill guard Vincent Dufort, who earned the Ken Shields Award in recognition of his excellence in basketball, academics and community involvement.
The ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS championship, hosted by the University of British Columbia, gets under way Thursday at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre and culminates Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time (8:30 p.m. EDT) with the national final, live on Sportsnet 360. Saturday’s semifinals are also live on Sportsnet 360 (3:00 p.m. & 5:30 p.m. PDT), while all 11 games from the eight-team tournament will be streamed on www.CIS-SIC.tv.