McDonald gears up for BU home finale

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This article was published 12/02/2025 (269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jack McDonald doesn’t subscribe to the idea that nothing good happens after 2 a.m.

In the middle of a weeknight, he received a call that changed his life.

His old junior college basketball coach from California, one he hadn’t played for in years, reached out once he was back in Australia when he heard the Brandon University Bobcats had a spot for him.

The six-foot-seven forward had spent one season in the Golden State and another in Florida, then moved back to Perth when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He took a year off basketball to work but simply wasn’t ready to walk away from the game.

So in August 2022, he decided to ditch his hometown on the Indian Ocean for the Canadian Prairies. For whatever reason, he’s amid his third Wheat City winter and on track to graduate from BU this spring.

“It is tough but the people you’re around and the community, it distracts you. I love this town,” he said on Wednesday, ahead of his final weekend of home games.

“I love the people in it, the people I’ve met, going out with the boys for wing nights and food. Getting together makes time go by fast.”

While he found himself in the coldest city in Canada West, he was part of the hottest offence in the country for a significant stretch. McDonald started alongside imports Jahmaal Gardner and Khari Ojeda-Harvey, as well as defensive player of the year Anthony Tsegakele and Sultan Bhatti, likely a first- or second-team all-star this season.

He averaged eight points per game, shooting 41.5 per cent from three-point range as Brandon went 12-8.

The Bobcats beat the Fraser Valley Cascades in the first round of the playoffs, then lost to Winnipeg in triple overtime in one of the wildest games of any of their lives.

“It’s up there, if not the number one. Even though we didn’t get the win it was crazy to be part of a game like that,” McDonald said.

The lineup changed the following year when Tsegakele and Gardner left but Ojeda-Harvey, Bhatti and Ampofo stepped up and led BU to another 12-8 season — and another playoff victory before losing to the eventual champion Victoria Vikes.

The rest of the senior corps from 2023-24 left with a year of eligibility remaining but they haven’t lost touch.

“The people I’ve met, the teammates are going to be lifelong people I stay in contact with. I still talk to Anthony and Eli, Silas (Owusu-Acheaw) is coming over (today) to watch the final weekend,” McDonald said.

McDonald is graduating and has been accepted into the University of Derby in England to start a master’s in education administration.

But first, he’s trying to make sure this isn’t his last weekend as a Bobcat.

BU is tied with Saskatchewan at 5-13 entering their doubleheader on Friday and Saturday. Both are one game back of Regina for the last Prairie Division playoff spot, and both have the tiebreaker on the Cougars should they find themselves knotted at 7-13.

The Bobcats need to sweep this weekend to stay alive. Considering the size of Saskatchewan’s starting lineup — led by seven-foot Ryker Wuttke and six-foot-nine Easton Thimm — McDonald will need to have a good weekend on the defensive end to give his team a chance.

“Dealing with seven-footers, the big powerhouse, we’re definitely going to have to try to battle our way down low, try to keep them out of the paint,” McDonald said.

“We’re just trying to take it one day at a time. Focus on Friday, and whatever happens Friday, we’ll focus on Saturday, but we’re really trying to get both wins this weekend.”

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