CIS Hoops.ca

The Laurentian Voyageurs are set to announce their new men's basketball coach after Virgil Hill resigned last month to be closer to his family in B.C. Interviews were conducted last week and the Voyageurs athletic department is planning a news conference tomorrow (Monday) night to formally announce their new coach.
Vees set to announce new men's basketball coach Sources indicate that former Laurentian All-Canadian Shawn Swords (pictured playing for Canada), who has spent the past decade playing professionally in Europe and has had several stints on the Canadian national team, is the front runner for the position and will likely be named Head Coach at the news conference in Sudbury on Monday. Swords, a product of Ottawa's Woodroffe High School, began his OUAA career with Laurentian in 1992-93 under Head Coach Peter Campbell. During his 5 year CIS career, the Vees were a collective 49-11 (.817 winning percentage) during the regular season and twice participated in the CIAU Nationals, including a semi-final appearance during Shawn's fifth and final season, when Swords was named a CIAU All-Canadian. Swords was named an OUAA East all-star on 4 occasions, including a pair of First Team honours and led Laurentian to a pair of OUAA East championships. Swords also enjoyed a solid career with Canada's National team program, culminating in a spot on the Sydney 2000 Olympic team, during which he played 15 minutes per game on a team that advanced to the quarter-finals before losing to France. After graduating from Laurentian, Swords enjoyed a solid 10 year professional career in Europe, playing in England, Switzerland, Italy, Finland and, most recently in France where he finished a three-year stint as captain of Mulhouse, a French Division 2 team. Laurentian had a ceremony for Swords in 2005 during which a Swords Team Canada jersey was framed and now hangs outside Laurentian's Ben Avery Gym. During that visit back to Laurentian, Swords said: "I can see myself coaching at some level. I know and read the game well and have had the pleasure to be coached by Jay Triano, Peter Campbell and Dave Smart who have taught me a lot about the game. If I pick up just a little from each of them I will be a good coach at the very worst! My coach at Laurentian was Peter Campbell and to me he gave our teams at Laurentian an identity, one that we could always win if we played hard. I still carry that attitude with me every where I play."