Tabin ready to close Bobcat career

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This article was published 14/02/2025 (295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eden Tabin doubted whether she’d reach this particular weekend as a Brandon University Bobcat.

She arrived in 2019, persevered through the COVID-19 pandemic, a coaching change, and another, and one more, with an ACL tear in the middle.

Yet the Bobcats (2-16) have reached senior weekend. They’ll face the Saskatchewan Huskies (16-2) at the Healthy Living Centre today at 6 p.m., then Saturday at 5 p.m. Afterwards, they’ll recognize Tabin as their lone graduating player.

“It does feel like it’s time to move on,” Tabin said.

“That doesn’t make it any easier, definitely not, especially right now with the way basketball is going. I truly feel like I’m playing basketball again, and that’s all attributed to the new coaching staff we have and the new girls we have.

“It makes it easier knowing I’m leaving behind something that is going to improve. This team is going to get miles better, you’ve seen it this year. The change in the way we play basketball, it’s a completely different game.”

When Tabin landed and felt her left knee buckle during the final weekend of conference play during the 2022-23 season, she thought it might have been her final moment on a basketball court.

The Regina product wondered if she’d be able to return and help a Canada West team, or if she’d just hold them back. But former Bobcat Keisha Cox, who finished playing in 2019 but stuck around and has helped train the Bobcats ever since, inspired Tabin to keep going.

“Just put my head down and keep working, because no one’s going to work for me,” Tabin said of Cox’s message. “She knew I was tough, she knew I was strong, so to keep proving to everybody that I’m stronger than they think I am.

“Keisha was a really big help to me when I was feeling like basketball’s not going great.”

That certainly didn’t mean it was easy. After all, the six-foot-one forward wasn’t Brandon’s most talented player to begin with. She had career-highs of 16.8 minutes, 2.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

While she started all 20 games in 2022-23, Tabin was never the focal point as the Bobcats essentially played small ball half the game.

However, reducing Tabin to stats is completely missing her impact.

If it isn’t already obvious when her voice reverberates through the HLC after a Piper Ingalls three-pointer or Jayna Maytwayashing putback for two, Tabin just wants to uplift those around her.

For her, it was worth slogging through seasons with few to no wins because of the growth she saw all around her.

“I stayed relatively consistent throughout my years here but seeing Piper go on from redshirting her first year to not playing much … to dropping 20 every night, she can do that,” Tabin said.

“Girls like Beth (Dueck), girls like Cali (Yates), even seeing Ivy (Bestland) and the improvement she’s made from the start of the year until now.

“You see moments of greatness. There are three, four possessions where we’re like, ‘This is basketball, this is great.’ It’s a hint of what we can do and what will be done.”

Along the way, Tabin returned to the rugby pitch with the BU women’s program, nearly helping the Bobcats reach the Prairie University Women’s Rugby Conference final in Saskatoon in November.

She’s graduating in the spring but plans to stick around Brandon next year, possibly helping with the BU rugby team while navigating the future.

“After 24 years now, just starting life. I won’t have anyone telling me to run, I’ll have to decide to,” Tabin said.

“It’s just starting to find out who I am without basketball.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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