Lakers Men's Basketball Coach Chris Cheng gives direction during practice this week. PHOTO BY COLBY CLARKE.
With The Nipissing Lakers Men’s Basketball Team gearing up to begin its inaugural season on the court, all steps are being taken by Lakers Varsity Men's Basketball Head Coach Chris Cheng and his staff to ensure it’s not only a building year, but a successful one as well.
“The wins and losses will take care of themselves on the court,” said Cheng, who helped coach Team Ontario to back-to-back National Championships in 2011 and 2012.
“There’s no added pressure from anyone other than myself. I set a high standard so I’m just embracing what we are doing here.”
Cheng and his coaching staff continue to have a very busy summer; a summer that has seen them recruit 27 student athletes from all over to participate in training camp, 19 of which ultimately made the decision to stay and become part of the first Nipissing Lakers Men’s Basketball Team.
Brampton native and Small Forward, Marcus Lewis has worked alongside Cheng before and says the impact from his coach has created many goals for the team’s first season.
“They’ve instilled a belief that we can go far this season,” said Lewis, who will be entering his first year in Nipissing’s Business program.
“We will do better than what the haters say and we will have fun doing it!”
The season won't start until November for the new Lakers Men's Basketball program. While Cheng believes he has had a strong year of recruiting, he realizes there's still a lot of work that needs to be done.
“We had a very successful recruiting year but that success is only based on paper,” said Cheng, who was announced as Head Coach back in early September, 2013.
“Now it’s time to find out if they can showcase it on the court and it’s our job to guide them and teach them.”
With so many responsibilities and obstacles as a first year coach, Cheng and his staff are keeping things simple and taking it day by day; something Cheng expressed is most important for a new athletic program.
“The real focus is establishing a culture and building a brand towards excellence,” said Cheng.
“We want to find our identity as a program first then progress.”
The Lakers’ first game is on November 8th against Algoma University. Following that match, the team will head back to host Carleton for their first ever home game on November 14th.
