Part II: Mother, Daughter, Niece
Rita Pendergast never played university basketball but was manager at Acadia. Her
sister, Anna Pendergast played both for Dalhousie and Canada’s national team. Rita
(now Crosby) has a daughter, Cailin Crosby who plays at Dalhousie where her Aunt
Anna (now Stammberger) is coach. Tessa Stammberger, is also on that team playing
for her mother. Cailin Crosby a fifth year veteran averages 22 minutes, pulls down 5.3
rebounds and scores 11+ points per game. Her rookie cousin, Tessa, is averaging more
than 25 minutes, pulling down 6.1 rebounds and averaging 9.1 points a game.
Patty (Koudys) played at McMaster from 1980-84 where she was an all-star and
inducted into the McMaster hall of fame. Her husband, Bill played at University of
Toronto where he was an OUA all-star for two seasons. Their son Kevin plays for
Gonzaga where he gets 31+ minutes and averages 13+ points per game and has also
played for Canada. Their daughter Kayla plays for her father who has coached at York
for 26 years. She gets about 26 minutes a game. Next season, Kayla is to be joined by
her cousin, Jackie Koudys currently with Niagara Falls Red Raiders.
At least nine fathers have coached their sons. Joe Raso, a long-time successful coach
of McMaster Marauders – he took his team to the Nationals 12 times -- recruited and
coached his son, Victor who is still with the Marauders. Mike Katz at University of
Toronto coached his son Ben when Ben played one year at U of T after finishing at
McMaster. Peter Campbell coached his son John at Laurentian. Another son, Jamie,
also played at Laurentian, coached by Shawn Swords. Mike Connolly coached the men
at UPEI. His brothers, Dave and Postie played for UPEI and two of his sons, Chris and
Jeff played for him and his daughter, M.C. played for the women’s team. Barry Smith at
Queen’s coached his son, Sean. Barry’s daughter, Erin played at York for Bill Pangos
and another daughter, Heather played at Durham.
Tom Kieswetter, who played at Waterloo from 1968-73 and has been head coach since
1992 coached both his son Matt and his nephew, Luke. Matt and Luke played one
season together. Tom’s daughter Amanda was on the women’s at the same time. Paul
Thomas played at Western, his son Thomas at Windsor where his father was coach.
Thomas’s daughter Misty played at University of Nevada Las Vegas, later for Canada’s
wheelchair team. George Morrison coached his son Scott during Scott’s five years at
UPEI. Scott is now coach of Lakehead Thunderwolves, currently ranked second. His
father coached the women and the men at UPEI then moved on to coach the Holland
College Hurricanes. In December, 2007, Scott and his father faced off as competing
coaches when the Hurricanes played the Lakehead Thunderwolves. In September 2011
George Morrison was inducted into the Prince Edward Island sports hall of fame.
Ken Murray’s son Scott played for his father for five seasons and was on the Brock
team that won the CIS championship in 2008. Ken Murray’s father was a coach as well
– in track and cross country – and is in Buffalo State Athletics Hall of Fame. Ken was
named most valuable player in his five years on the Brock team and averaged 24.1
points and 10.8 rebounds a game. His son, Scott was also an outstanding scorer, with
1.599 points.
There were two other father-son combinations at Brock:
Doug Fast and his son Jay: Doug was an all-Canadian at Brock and his son Jay is a
first year guard on the current team.
Bob Tatti and his son Jason: both father and son played for Brock. Jason’s sister,
Tanya, played at Laurentian and another sister, Gina played at Ottawa and Guelph. The
Tatti’s are cousins of Rena and Rich Wesolowski who also played at Guelph. Rich
finished up at McMaster.
There is another father-son combination where the father Don Smith coached at Wilfrid
Laurier and his son, Todd Smith played there, but not while his father was coaching.
Howard Lockhart who coached at Waterloo Lutheran and was coach when Lutheran
were Canadian champions in 1967-68 had a daughter, Barb play at Wilfrid Laurier and a
son Lance, play at Waterloo.
Frank Cooney played at University of Manitoba and was on the Manitoba team that
played in the Nationals when they were hosted by Acadia in 1970-71. His son Shane
played at Waterloo and (while completing his Masters) at Guelph. Another son Todd
played at Wilfrid Laurier and the two brothers played against each other during two
seasons.
Tim and Velvet McGarrigle who were student athletes at Cape Breton had a son Mark
and a daughter Kate both of whom played basketball for the Capers. Mark and Kate
were on AUS championship teams the same season. Tim coached at Cape Breton as
did Velvet’s brother, Jim Charters. Jim was coach when his nephew Mark was on the
team. Dave DeAveiro and his wife Caretta Williams met in high school, both later played
for Ottawa. Dave coached Ottawa, has now moved to Montreal as coach at McGill.
Father-Son Combinations
These are close to 20 father and son combinations:
Pat Baker and his son, Patrick; Pat Baker coached Macdonald College in what was then
the Ottawa-St. Lawrence league (Carleton, Ottawa, Loyola, Sir George, Bishop’s etc.).
His son Patrick who used to watch his father’s teams play went on to play at Mount
Allison.
John Forsyth and his son Rob both played at University of British Columbia;
Dave Thornhill and his son Matt; Dave played at Bishop’s. Matt at McGill where he was
player of the year in his final year;
Irv Hanec and his son Jon: both played for Manitoba Bisons. Irv’s wife Cece played
volleyball for Manitoba.
Norm Clarke played his university basketball in the US but he did play for the National
team and his son, Julian, who has played for the Junior National Team is now in the US
with Santa Clara Broncos. Julian scored five three’s and a lay-up in the closing minutes
to lead Oakwood Barons to the Ontario Federation of School Athletics Associations
(OFSAA) championship in March, 2011.
Phil Wright and his son Andy: Phil was head coach at UNB; Andy was point guard for
three years at Bishop’s;
Chris McNeilly who played for York and his son Ryan who played for Ryerson and is an
assistant coach with the current women’s team -- Chris still plays and referees in
Toronto. Ryan’s cousin Jamie played at University of New Orleans, where his final
season coach was Buzz Williams who is now coach at Marquette. Jamie played
professionally in Germany for a year is now an assistant to Williams at Marquette.
Jamie McNeilly played for Team Canada in the summer Universiade in Turkey and in
2007 when the team won a bronze medal in Bangkok.
Rick Cotter and his two sons Andy and Jeff: all three played for UNB;
Paul Armstrong and his son, Tom: Paul played and coached at Carleton; Tom is now
playing at Guelph;
Les Korchok was Brock’s first basketball coach. His son Mark played for Windsor and
then at Waterloo on the team that lost to Victoria in 1982-83 when the tournament was
played at Waterloo.
Blair Shier and his son Pat -- and Brian McLean and his son Matt, all at Bishop’s;
Al and Don Melnychuk and Don’s son, Mike: Al and Don were brothers who played
together at Alberta. Mike also played for Alberta;
Pat Stewart and his son Andy, both of whom played at Carleton;
Pat O’Brien, who played and coached at Carleton and his son Sean who played at
Simon Fraser;
Sam Hill and his son, Alex, both with University of Toronto;
Charlie Barker who played at Memorial as did his son, Charles;
Peter McAleenan played at UNB, his son Tim played at Bishop’s and his daughter Erin
played at Acadia;
Glen Fekula and son Brad both played for the Regina Cougars;
Robert Brownrigg who played at Sherbrooke and his son David who played at Laval:
and
John McKibbon and his sons Jeff and Tom who all played at Laurentian.
There are also mother son combinations: Sue Burton who played at Guelph is the
mother of Pat and Matt Donnelly who played at Wilfrid Laurier.
There are some multi-sport families where basketball is included. Bo Pelech was with
three championship teams at York and is in the York Lions hall of fame. His son Nathan
is in his fourth season with McMaster. Bo Pelech’s three other sons are into hockey:
Matt Pelech of the San Jose Sharks, Mike Pelech of the LA Kings and Adam Pelech of
the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League.
The Quackenbush brothers went the other direction. Their father Max played briefly in
the NHL and their Uncle Bill was a perennial all-star and Lady Byng trophy winner with
the Boston Bruins. Phil and Ross played together one year at Mount Allison before Phil
returned to Toronto where he did not play and Ross moved to St. Mary’s where he
played and coached. Ross was a member of the St. Mary’s team that won the
championship in 1977-78 and 1978-79 and coach of the St. Mary’s team that won in
1998-99. He also played on a team that won the senior men’s championship in 1981.
He is retiring at the end of this season after 23 years as a coach.
Trix (Kannekens) Baker and her husband Doug Baker both played for Alberta, Trix
arriving for her husband’s last season. Trix coached the Pandas from 1991 to 2006 and
was coach when the Pandas win their only national championship in 1998-99. Doug
was all-Canadian in 1976-77. Their 6’ 7” son, Jordan is now in his third year with
Alberta. He was Canada West rookie of the year in his first year, a Canada West first
team all-star in his second year and has broken the all-time rebounding record for
Alberta in his third year, averaging 10.4 rebounds per game as well as scoring 19.1
points per game. Another husband wife combination is Paul Falco now women’s head
coach at Laurier and his wife Sandy Stevenson. Both played at Laurentian, She is in the
Laurentian Hall of Fame.
Three Ashe brothers – Gerry, Greg and Rob – played for University of Ottawa. A fourth
brother, Bernie, also went to Ottawa but played hockey not basketball. However,
Bernie’s son, Anthony took up basketball and played first at Carleton, now at Acadia,
where he plays about 25 minutes a game and averages 11.9 points.
Drew Love, who was Director of Athletics at Carleton and is now Director of Athletics at
McGill, played for Carleton as did his brother, Jon. Jon`s daughter, Kyra played at
Ottawa.
Paul Howard played at Queen’s from 1967 to 1972, was MVP twice and an AllCanadian. His daughter, Shannon played at McGill where she led the league in blocked
shots and rebounds. Her brother Andrew rowed and her brother Jordan rowed and
played football.
There are at least 10 other two-generation combinations:
Vic Juzenas who played on Guelph’s men’s championship team in 1973-74 has a
daughter, Alana who played at Western;
Alex and Bob Urosevic played at Waterloo. Bob’s daughter, Ali, played one season ay
Laurier; his other daughter, Rachel is now with Queen’s where she averages 22
minutes a game.
Bev and Ron Ziegel both played for Waterloo Lutheran and their son Jamie played for
Western.
François Bibeau played at Laval, his daughter Hélène played at McGill;
Jordon Johnson played for Brock men; his mother played for Brock women.
Grant Coulter who played at Brandon and was also a referee has a daughter, Tia in her
first year with University of Winnipeg.
Henry Hanlan played for Ottawa. His daughter Tatiana is her second year with the Gee
Gees and playing 12+ minutes per game;
Sarah Kennedy played at Carleton where she is now an assistant coach. Her brother,
Tom played at St. FX;
Kim (Mathieu) Swenson played at Ottawa and Lakehead and her sister Erin Mathieu
played at Carleton. Kim became an assistant coach with the Gee Gees in 2007-8. Kim
does not confine herself to basketball. She coaches track and field at St. Joseph’s High
School in Ottawa and her team had made three Ontario Federation of School Athletics
Associations (OFSAA) appearances.
Jim Baird played for McMaster as did his daughter, Sue and Jim’s son Rob played at
Waterloo;
Bess Lennox now plays for Ottawa; her father and mother both played at York;
Mark Polischuk played for Wilfrid Laurier and his daughter, Andrea is now in her second
year at Brock. Lori McKay played for Brock when it won in Ontario and her daughter,
Halley McKay Neal also played for Brock.
There is another mother daughter combination (this one outside of Canada) – Sonya
Edwards played for UPEI (along with her sister) Paula. Sonya’s daughter, Simone
Thomas plays for Binghamton. She is not the only family combination to involve an
American link. Karly Roser who plays 34+ minutes a game and averages 8.1 points a
game as a freshman guard at Northwestern is the daughter of Dave Roser who for
years was McMaster’s leading scorer.
There are several families where there is a parent plus son and daughter. Erica
McGuinness who played five years at UBC including three championship teams is the
daughter of Shaun McGuinness who was a part-time assistant coach. Erica played one
year in the Czech Republic. Her brother Andrew is with the Calgary Dinos.
Pat Stoqua played at Carleton as did his daughter Jennifer. She is out this season with
an injury; but Pat’s son Sean is playing 24 minutes a game and averaging 12+ points
per game with Acadia. Pat Stoqua himself not only played basketball, he played football
with Carleton and the Ottawa Rough Riders. In the fall of 1979, Stoqua played pro
football with the Riders and joined Ravens basketball when the football season ended.
Bruce Milliken played for Waterloo and his daughter Vivian is in her first season with
Waterloo women,
Eight Sets of Twins
There are at least eight set of twins: Tina Fasone who played at McGill and her sister
Lina who played at Concordia; Chloe St. Amour who played at University of British
Columbia (UBC) and her twin sister Chanelle NOT CHANTAL who played at Laval;
Kayla and Tessa Klassen at Manitoba (Tessa finished her career at Fraser Valley); Lars
and Jason Dressler who played at University of Toronto; Blaz and Ivan Bozinovic, both
of whom played for Thompson Rivers; and Patty and Peggy Stamps, who both played
for Brock. Patty Stamps married Rocky DiPietro a former Hamilton Tiger-Cat. His sister
Peggy married Mike Sheahan and their son, Riley who plays hockey at Notre Dame
was a first round draft of the Detroit Red Wings in 2010. Finally, Cape Breton had John
and Janet Ryan. John was an all-Canadian and went on to become Director of Athletics
at Cape Breton.
In addition to Matt and Amanda Kieswetter at Waterloo there are a number of other
brother-sister combinations: John and Jenifer Devereaux and Robyn and Randy
O’Reilly, both at Memorial; there is Georgie Groat who played both at Brock and
Windsor and assisted Chris Critelli for four years and her sister Marianne who was a
professional tennis player and an Olympian as well as a Brock basketball player and in
the St. Catharines Hall of Fame; Andre Coatsworth who played for Waterloo and his
brother Kyle who played for Western; John and Jenifer Devereaux and Robyn and
Randy O’Reilly, both at Memorial; Matt and Megan Cherkas at Regina (their brother Lee
played football); Gavin and Jessica Resch at Carleton; Alison and Drew Morrison at
Guelph and a Guelph trio -- Luke and Zack Nevar and their sister Kate whose husband
Ryan Dudley played at Brock. There is also Hélène and Simon Bibeau at McGill (Simon
is out injured this year) and two at Bishop’s, Gabrielle and Antoine Côté-Caouette plus
Helen and Mark McAulay. There was Brian Coburn and his wife. Patrick Lahey was pm
a championship team at Cape Breton and his sister. Luciann was on three Caper teams
that won the AUS. John Ryan, now athletics director at Cape Breton, and his sister,
Janet also played for the Capers. Jeff McLaughlin played for McMaster; his brother
Chris is now with Victoria. Mary Ann Kowal was an All-Canadian at Toronto and a
member of the National team and her sister, Theresa was a team-mate of Michele
Belanger, now coach at Toronto, when the two played for Norm Vickery at Laurentian.
There is Marie Eve Martin who played for McGill and her brother Sebastian who played
at Concordia; Nik Poulimenos who played for Waterloo and his brother, John at York;;
Titus Channer who played for McMaster and his sister Dee who played for both
McMaster and Laurier. John Oberthier and his sister Peggy both played for University of
Ottawa at the same time. Emmy Unaegbu played at Simon Fraser, her brother Tim at
Thompson Rivers. Paul Naka played for UBC and his brother Ross played at Simon
Fraser; Jordan Nostedt played at Simon Fraser, his brother Sterling at Regina. Cody
Berg played for UNC and his brother Mile played for Victoria. John and Jean Devereaux
played at Memorial. There is Tim Mau at Guelph and his brother Steve who played at
Concordia; Mark Alessio at McGill and Queen’s and his brother Mark who was an OUA
West all-star at Laurier; and Michelle Vesperini at Western and her sister Carla at
McMaster. Their father had a sweater with mixed Western-McMaster symbolism so he
could support both when they played each other.
Jeff McLaughlin played for McMaster; his brother Chris is now with Victoria. Mary Ann
Kowal was an All-Canadian at Toronto and a member of the National team and her
sister, Theresa was a team-mate of Michele Belanger, now coach at Toronto, when the
two played for Norm Vickery at Laurentian.
Stephanie Chapman is at Acadia where she averages 33+ minutes and 12+ points per
game and her sister Shannon is at St. Mary’s. Rachel Hancock played for Guelph. Her
sister Annabel is in her first year with Western. Andy Kwiatkowski played for Western.
His brother Paul “Woody” played for Waterloo. At Dalhousie, where Kelsey Daley is an
assistant coach, her brother Robbi is red-shirting after transferring from St. Mary’s.
The Mullally brothers covered three universities. Dave and Mark played at UPEI with
Dave later playing at Dalhousie with a third brother, Hugh, who also played at
Lakehead. There is Marie Eve Martin who played for McGill and her brother Sebastian
who played at Concordia; Alan Goodhoofd who played at Waterloo and his sister Kayla
now in her second year with Guelph; Nik Poulimenos who played for Waterloo and his
brother, John at York; Greg Filgiano at Waterloo and his brother Thomas at Acadia;
Julie Devenny who was CIS rookie of the year while at Waterloo, 2001-2 and her sister
Lisa who played at Windsor; Titus Channer who played for McMaster and his sister Dee
who played for both McMaster and Laurier; Enzo Piazza who played at Laurier and his
brother Tony who played at Windsor; John Oberthier and his sister Peggy both played
for University of Ottawa at the same time. Emmy Unaegbu played at Simon Fraser, her
brother Tim at Thompson Rivers. Paul Naka played for UBC and his brother Ross
played at Simon Fraser; Jordan Nostedt played at Simon Fraser, his brother Sterling at
Regina. Cody Berg played for UNC and his brother Mile played for Victoria. John and
Jean Devereaux played at Memorial.
There was also Tim Mau at Guelph and his brother Steve who played at Concordia;
David Burnett who played at Waterloo and his sister in her second year with Waterloo
women, playing 20 to 30 minutes and averaging 9-10 points a game; Mark Alessio at
McGill and Queen’s and his brother Mike who was an OUA West all-star at Laurier; and
Michelle Vesperini at Western and her sister Carla at McMaster. Their father had a
sweater with mixed Western-McMaster symbolism so he could support both when they
played each other.
Two Ryerson players, Lacey O’Sullivan and Ashley MacDonald who played together for
three years are first cousins. Lacey’s sister, Dacia O’Sullivan played at Brock.
There is Candace Jeffrey who played at Acadia for four years and her brother Spender
who played at UNB. Mark Hazlett and his wife Leanne both played at University of New
Brunswick. Their daughter Emily is considering UNB. The Ruel sisters – Fanie and
Emilie – played for both Concordia and McGill: Fanie started at McGill then came to
Concordia: Emilie started at Concordia, played her final year at McGill. Two sisters who
played together at St. Mary’s – Kelsey and Robbi Daley -- have moved on to a different
relationship. Kelsey is now an assistant coach at Dalhousie and Robbi is there this
season as Hélène a red shirt. Two brothers – Mark and Paul Jones, who both played for
York, have stayed involved in another way: Mark is with ESPN; Paul is the radio voice
of the Raptors.
There are others with different connections to basketball. Elisa Mitton who is Sports
Information Officer at Windsor is the niece of Claire Mitton who used to coach at
University of New Brunswick (UNB) and was named coach of the year in Atlantic
University Sport (AUS) three times. Claire is now associate coach at Calgary where she
coached Elisa’s cousin, Katherine Adams. Adams later assisted with the Calgary Dinos.
Student athletes from Newfoundland seem to like staying there: Memorial has more
family linkages than anywhere else – there are at least 18. Carleton is next with 15
including five of whom have been on teams that have won the CIS championship.
Concordia however has a unique claim. It has had five sets of brothers – Mark and
Robert Ferguson, Emerson and Steven Thomas, Gaetan and Jay Prosper, Armel and
Real Kitieu and Damien and Dwayne Buckley. In each case one of the five – Robert
Ferguson, Emerson Thomas, Jay Prosper, Real Kitieu and Damien Buckley – was an
all-Canadian.
Although St. FX can’t match Memorial or Carleton in terms of total brother and/ or sister
combinations, basketball at St. FX definitely has been and is a family affair. There were
four brother combinations – Mike and Sean Clarke, Danny and John McFarland, Bruce
and Leo MacPherson and Blair and Jeff White – as well as two sister combinations –
Cindy and Janice Murphy and Donna and Janice Sanderson. But that’s just a start.
There were two brother and sister pairs: Alex and Ashley Stephen and Shane and
Shannon Walsh. There was a father and son combination: Ernie Foshay and his son,
Rich and a father daughter pairing – Steve Konchalski who played at Acadia and
coaches the men’s team and Steve’s daughter, Maria who played four years with the
women’s team – and a father-son-daughter trio – Danny and John McFarland are the
sons of John ‘Packy’ McFarland who played and coached the X-men and was Director
of Athletics and the brothers of Debby McFarland who also played for St. FX. Finally,
Leo MacPherson not only played for the X-men but is St. FX’s current Director of
Athletics. Steve Konchalski incidentally was a member (along with Brian Heaney) of the
Acadia team which won the nationals in 1964-65 and was MVP in the championship
tournament. He scored 43 points in the opening game when Acadia defeated Carleton.