An Abbotsford native is the new boss behind the bench for the Trinity Western University Spartans men’s basketball team.
TWU recently announced the hiring of Trevor Pridie as the team’s new head coach, and he brings with him a wealth of experience at a number of different levels within the sport.
Abbotsford basketball followers may remember Pridie from his time as the head coach for the W.J. Mouat Hawks senior boys team from 2014 to 2016. He helped lead the team to its best result ever at the 4A tournament in 2016, when the Hawks placed fourth in the province.
He also served as the assistant coach for the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades men’s basketball team from 2015 to 2017, a Basketball BC provincial team head coach for U14 and U15 boys teams from 2011 to 2014, and was a head coach and program director for the BC Bounce basketball program from 2011 to 2018.
Pridie is most recently coming off spending the 2018-19 season involved with the Raptors 905, which is the Toronto Raptors G League team. He was the team’s head video coordinator and last summer worked with Toronto’s Summer League team.
He said he’s looking forward to his new role with the Langley school.
“I’m excited and I’m looking forward to the opportunity,” Pridie stated in a press release. “There is a rich tradition here. You look at the athletic department here and it’s exciting to be part of such a unique school and department. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to come into a program and build something here at Trinity Western.”
Coming off his experience with the Raptors 905, Pridie is set to bring a new direction to the Spartans men’s basketball program.
“I think it’s going to be a fun brand of basketball,” he said. “It’s going to be very up-tempo. “There is going to be a lot of energy and it’s going to be an exciting team to watch. Coming here, I think it’s about building a winning attitude and culture. It’s going to be a process, but I’m going to figure out what this team looks like and where we need to plug holes and create a plan to achieve our goals, while building a winning culture and winning mindset.”
Beyond his recent work with the Raptors developmental teams, Pridie has also been part of the Raptors training camps in each of the last four seasons.
“Being around an organization like the Raptors, which is one of the best organizations in the NBA, you learn a lot about how to do things the right way,” Pridie said. “I learned a lot about leadership and learned from so many great basketball minds. A lot of the things I picked up over there, I’m going to try to bring over here and run this like an NBA team – in terms of staff alignment, responsibilities, scouting and player development.”
TWU Director of Athletics Jeff Gamache said he’s thrilled to bring Pridie aboard.
“When you talk to people who know Trevor well, you hear about a young man who treats people well, who loves basketball, who loves to learn and who has a deep commitment to mentoring young men through basketball,” he stated. “Trevor has both deep roots in the local basketball community and more recently has been able to learn what a top-level basketball organization looks like, while with Nick Nurse and Jama Mahlalela of the Toronto Raptors. I am so excited by Trevor’s overall vision for how he wants to assemble an experienced and talented staff to build a sustainable program that is competitive with the best basketball programs in Canada.”
Last year the Spartans men’s basketball team posted a record of 0-20, and was the worst ranked team in Canada West.
For more on the team, visit gospartans.ca.
