The Ryerson Rams men’s basketball team has been a program on the rise over the past half decade. They’ve been to the CIS Final Eight and have appeared in the CIS playoffs every year since head coach Roy Rana was hired before the 2009-10 season. But the team from the downtown Toronto university is still looking take that next step, to get past the OUA finals and the likes of modern day powerhouses Carleton and Ottawa.
Heading into next season, Rana and the Rams will have a new weapon in their arsenal, having recently secured a commitment from Mor Menashe, a six-foot-two point guard with experience in Israel’s second-tier professional league.
The move is a departure for the Rams, who haven’t had an international player on the roster since the 2004-05 season. Despite that, Rana—who also helms the Canadian junior men’s national team, as well as the World Team at the annual Nike Hoop Summit—says that he’s contacted by a number of international players inquiring about the Ryerson program every year, and was first in touch with Menashe as early as last fall when the 21-year-old began weighing his basketball options.
“There was something I liked about him watching tape,” says Rana. “I’ve been exposed to Israeli players in the past, guys like Omri Casspi and some of the players in the Israeli league in my experience with the national team, so I had a rough idea of what that level is. For a very small country, they have a very good product. There’s good basketball there and Mor is a product of that.”
To wit: earlier this week, Israel’s most accomplished pro team, Macabbi Tel-Aviv, beat Real Madrid to win the 2014 Euroleague title.
On a recruiting trip to various Ontario schools, Menashe and his father, a former player and currently a coach back in Israel, visited Ryerson, where Rana was able to see the guard in the flesh for the first time. Again the coach was impressed by what he saw and what the guard brings to the table.
“He’s just a very solid, high-IQ point guard,” explains Rana. “Fundamentaly sound, understands how to play the game. He’s not an explosive athlete but is very, very good at a number of things.”
But it was also Menashe’s recent experience in the military, where Israelis are required to serve, that helped him stand out as a recruit.
“You can certainly see it in his body,” Rana says of the military influence on Menashe’s game, “and he’s very mature and mentally tough. It’s a different level of maturity than a freshman out of a Canadian high school, so in that respect we think he’s much more prepared to step on the floor and help us right away.”
Rana maintains that Menashe has the skill to warrant a spot at the next level, if not the opportunity.
“I think he’s certainly an NCAA Division 1-calibre talent,” Rana says, “but because he spent two years in the military, he’s a little bit older—coming in as a 21-year-old first-year player. For a lot of kids coming out of Israel, I think, because of that, it changes their opportunities in the States.”
An American program’s loss is Ryerson’s gain, and it seems the fit will be beneficial to both the program and the player.
“We didn’t go out and pitch Mor,” Rana says. “When he came to visit, we just spoke about what we were about and what kind of experience he could expect here. Ultimately, I think the seriousness and professional approach of our program really appealed to Mor.”
But Rana maintains that, despite the success he anticipates for his newest guard, he doesn’t plan to make a habit of going abroad to find Rams’ talent in the future.
“I’d say this is a special circumstance. As a coach I’m committed to really trying to develop and support Canadian and local Toronto talent,” he says. “But every once in awhile, there’s going to be a situation that fits and makes sense, and I think this one does.”
