Every university program faces a unique challenge that comes when players graduate or leave the team.
Both the Varisty Men’s and Women’s basketball teams have experienced years of success, both contending for multiple provincial and national titles. However, this coming 2024-25 season, they’ll be entering unknown territory without the aid of most key players.
On the women’s side, two familiar faces will not be on the court, starting forward Julia Chadwick, MIR ’24, and starting guard Emma Weltz, Nurs ’24.
Both players were key pieces in a team that set historic marks for the program, including a program best record of 21-1 and second place Nationals finish in 2022-23. Chadwick as a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian, OUA Defensive Player of the Year, and leading the team in points, rebounds, and blocks this past season will especially be missed.
On the men’s side, things are a bit more dire, with six players, Cole Syllas, Sci ’24, Michael Kelvin II, ArtSci ’25, Cam Bett, ArtSci ’24, Fofo Adetogun, MIR ’25, and Aaron Tennant, Law ’26, gone after last season.
All are players who won’t be suiting up for the Gaels this next year after having been starting players or contributing key minutes off the bench. Syllas is the team’s biggest lost, having been the face of the program alongside his brother Luka Syllas, ConEd ’24, since ing the team back in 2019. Most recently hitting a buzzer beater over Brock to bring home the OUA banner on home soil.
It’s something that has been on both head coaches radar for years now and comes as no surprise for the teams they lead.
Claire Meadows, B.PhE ’07, the Women’s head coach, and Steph Barrie, the Men’s head coach talked about the impact of losing players and how they plan for it in an interview with The Journal.
“You’re losing six guys out of your top seven, and in our world, [that’s just part of] the cycle. There’s two ways that the cycle turns, and that’s through the development of your players that are in your program and the recruitment of new players coming in. That’s how you address graduation, injury, people leaving, because there’s a level of unpredictability in our world that you just understand coming into it,” Barrie said.
It’s an awareness and calm demeanour that Meadows echoed as well.
“We’ve known for a few years now that the time was going to come when a large chunk of our vets were graduating from the program,” Meadows said.
“That’s life, you know? And I think the more you can have that mindset and know that nothing is permanent, and change is inevitable. I think it just sets you up for success,” she said.
Part of the cycle Barrie mentioned is the development of young players and recruitment of new talent. As a fan, it’s something that takes place away from the limelight of games but is always present in both coach’s minds.
Women’s Basketball has been quietly building one of the best benches in the conference. Meadows focused on the benefits to young players development when they play with the country’s best at every practice.
“Haley Barbieri at the point guard, came in and gave us huge minutes, as one of the players who has been able to play behind Emma Weltz for the last two years and learn from her and compete against her […] I could go on and on in of positions, and basically go through our entire roster. We are deep and we have a lot of people who are ready to jump in and grab minutes,” Meadows said.
“As much as it’s tough losing [Julia Chadwick], I think at the same time, it brings a lot of excitement in of who is going to pick up that space,” she added
For Men’s Basketball, recruiting has been a key piece in maintaining the form created in past years and attracting players with talent that can make an immediate impact. One player is Ollie Engen, a Kingston native, and number three recruit from Ontario according to 24/7 Sports. According to Barrie, Engen is going to have a massive impact from the get go.
“He’s a player on the level of Cole Syllas, Lucas Syllas coming in […]. He’s going to start not because we want him to start, but because he’s that good and he has earned that throughout the summer,” Barrie said.
Recruiting is a difficult game off the court, with multiple factors that go into where players ultimately decide on going. Queen’s University adds additional challenges to an already complex process.
“I will say is our recruiting pool is still smaller than most other schools because of how hard it is to get into Queen’s. We do get a lot of kids that are interested, but they just don’t meet the minimum requirements,” Barrie said.
Recruiting is a numbers game, and a huge part is reputation that Queen’s has as a successful basketball program.
“Three straight years going to Nationals, that’s really hard to do, so I think it has piqued the interest of a lot more people,” Barrie added.
However, at the end of the day, what truly draws player to want to play for a team is the environment that each coach provides. Both emphasize the friendships and trust that comes with ing the Gaels community.
In the case of Engen, it was a relationship that was developed over his years growing up in Kingston
“There was a relationship established over time in the summers, him scrimmaging with our guys, and then making strong friendships with a lot of the players on the team,” Barrie mentioned.
For Claire Meadows, development is something organic, a welcoming and trusting environment built from great people.
“I think our players do a really incredible job making our program an attractive place to come and play. We are so fortunate to have really great people in our program,” Meadows said. “They take pride in our program and it being a great place to be. They take care of one another.”
Women’s Basketball begins the Gaels campaign on Oct. 4. The rest of their schedule can be found on GoGaelsGo.
Men’s Basketball follows with their season opener on Oct. 18. The rest of their schedule can also be found on GoGaelsGo.
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