Ottawa guard Mike L’Africain named top player in CIS men’s basketball

Ottawa guard Mike L’Africainis the second straight Ottawa player to capture the honour. (Photo from uOttawa Gee-Gees’ Facebook page)

VANCOUVER – Ottawa guard Mike L’Africain was named the top player in Canadian university men’s basketball Wednesday.

The communications student from Oakville, Ont., is the second straight Ottawa player to capture the honour. Guard Johnny Berhanemeskel earned the award last year.

L’Africain was also named a first-team all-star.

Ottawa teammate Caleb Agada was named the top defensive player. The other award winners included: Windsor guard Isiah Osborne (top rookie); Ryerson’s Patrick Tatham (top coach); and McGill guard Vincent Dufort (Ken Shields award for excellence in basketball, academics and community involvement).

The six-foot-one L’Africain led Ottawa in scoring (20.4 points per game), assists (5.3), minutes (31.4 per game), three-pointers made (51, 41.8 per cent) and free throws made (67, 85.9 per cent). He also had 36 steals.

“A coach will always tell a point guard that he is responsible for one thing only and that’s the team winning,” said Ottawa coach James Derouin. “Mike has made that happen for his whole career and it is a testament to his work ethic and his love for the game.”

“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.”

Joining L’Africain as a first-team all-star are Brock’s Dani Elgadi, Calgary’s Thomas Cooper, UNB’s Javon Masters of UNB (28.0 ppg) and Kewyn Blain of UQAM.