CEBL Ottawa BlackJacks

Ottawa Blackjacks Announce the Completion of Basketball Operations Staff

Published on May 10, 2022 under Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL)
Ottawa BlackJacks News Release


The Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) announced Tuesday the completion of its basketball operations staff for the 2022 CEBL season. Joining General Manager and Vice-President of Basketball Operations Jevohn Shepherd, Head Coach Charles Dubé-Brais and Lead Assistant Coach Tom Johnson are: Director of Basketball Strategy and Analytics James Derouin; Director of International Scouting Pascal Angillis; Director of Prospect Strategy Theodore Chan; Assistant Coaches Vincent Plante and Damian Buckley; Player Development Coach Jamil Abiad; Strength and Conditioning Coach Sean Young; and Equipment Manager Ben Mukana.

Back with the BlackJacks for a second year, James Derouin has been the head coach and program manager of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees since June of 2010 and is now the winningest coach in team history. The Ottawa native is the first Gee-Gees head coach to bring his team to consecutive national championship tournaments since Bob O'Billovich in 1974-75, and the only coach in team history to be at four or more tournaments. Derouin was named the CIS Coach of the Year in 2014-15 after leading the Gee-Gees to a regular season record of 18-1 and a first-ever program ranking as No. 1 in the CIS Top Ten. In 2015, he joined the coaching staff of Canada's Cadet National team as an assistant, winning silver at the FIBA Americas tournament. Derouin helped guide Canada to a 6-1 record and a fifth-place finish at the 2016 U17 FIBA World Championships.

Pascal Angillis, who is based out of Gingelom, Belgium, is a 15-year professional coach, having served in some of the top divisions teams in Europe and is a former Belgian national team assistant coach. Since 2021, he has been working closely with his former player, Jevohn Shepherd to scout and recruit the best talent internationally for the BlackJacks. In 2012, Angillis joined Spirou Charleroi of the Euromillion Basketball League in Belgium as an assistant, before being promoted to the head coach position in 2016. During his last season with the team, Angillis and Shepherd reached the Belgian League semifinals in 2017. In total, Angillis participated in 11 seasons of European competitions, such as the Eurocup and the Champions Leagues.

Following two years in the Australian National Basketball League, Theodore Chan is joining the BlackJacks as the Director of Prospect Strategy. Chan is the Director of Scouting at Adelaide 36ers of the NBL in Australia, where 2021 NBA Draft Pick Josh Giddey and 2022 NBA Draft prospect Kai Sotto have played. A BioSteel All-Canadian Boys Game 2022 Selection Committee Member, Chan owns a scouting service called Global Visions. Chan has worked with numerous professional teams in scouting and analytics positions, including the Seattle Storm of the WNBA and the Hong Kong Eastern Long Lions of the ASEAN BL. He has also been a Research Analyst with Canada Basketball's Men's High-Performance Program since 2020.

Born and raised in Québec City, Vincent Plante has been the head coach of the men's basketball team at Cégep de Sainte-Foy, Quebec, since 2019 and spent the 2021 CEBL season with the BlackJacks as a Skill Development Coach and Video Coordinator. Prior to joining the Dynamiques, he spent six years (2013-19) with the Laval University men's basketball team as the lead assistant coach and spent the 2011 summer with the Québec U17 provincial team as an assistant coach. While completing a bachelor's degree in Sports Coaching and a Master of Business Administration, Plante had a five-year football career in one of the most successful programs in Canadian collegiate football history, the Laval University Rouge et Or.

Serving as the Lead Assistant Coach at Concordia University in Montreal, since 2015, Damian Buckley founded UPHILL Athletics, a basketball skill development company. UPHILL Athletics has helped many athletes attain their goals to play professionally, in the NCAA and in U SPORTS. Buckley has also coached Québec U14 and U16 provincial teams for several years. Prior to coaching, Buckley had a successful career on the court with the Concordia Stingers from 2005-2009, where he was named an All Canadian twice, and the Concordia Male Athlete of the Year two times.

Jamil Abiad is returning with the BlackJacks for a second campaign as Player Development Coach. Following a two-year professional basketball career in Lebanon and five collegiate seasons with the Bishop University Gaiters, Jamil Abiad dedicated his time to growing the game of basketball in the nation's capital, where he created various initiatives to provide more resources and visibility to local basketball talents. He is the founder and head coach of Team Believe U17 & U19, a competitive boys basketball team located in Ottawa. He also founded NL Fitness, a basketball training company offering private and group trainings for athletes from ages six to the pros.

Sean Young is the owner and head strength coach of the Canadian Strength Institute, which he founded in 2010. He has helped many professional athletes, including Ottawa REDBLACKS and 67's players, advance their careers through performance enhancement and injury rehabilitation. He has represented Team Canada as a national track and field athlete and has also been a guide runner for visually impaired sprinters on the para-athletic team. Young was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his efforts as a guide runner for Paralympian Jon Dunkerley and helping the Paralympic movement grow in Canada. He has called Ottawa home since 2002.

Ben Mukana is joining the BlackJacks as the Equipment Manager. Born in Congo, DRC, Mukana moved to Canada in 2004. He will be entering his fourth year as an undergraduate student at Carleton University, studying Criminology, with a concentration in Law. Mukana moved to Manitoba in 2007 and then Ottawa in 2012. While in Manitoba, he followed the footsteps of his older brothers and started playing basketball in third grade. He then continued playing basketball in Ottawa for the Nepean Blue Devils and for Pierre-Savard High School.

Last week, the CEBL and the Ottawa BlackJacks announced the launch of a season-long national campaign entitled The Road to the Chip, in celebration of 2022 CEBL Championship Weekend being hosted in the nation's capital. Season seat memberships are available at theblackjacks.ca/tickets and starts at only $294. Season seat members have exclusive access to 2022 CEBL Championship tickets.

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