Gill named Canada West rookie of year
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Size matters, and Munroop Gill is living proof.
The Brandon University Bobcats guard didn’t get where he is despite his slender, five-foot-nine frame. He’s here because of it.
He’s as crafty as he is because he has to be.
Munroop Gill of the Brandon University Bobcats was named the Canada West men’s basketball rookie of the year on Thursday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
He plays with the chip placed on his shoulder from a young age, one that’s never going to leave.
Gill is in Brandon because no one else wanted him. And there couldn’t be a better fit.
The Surrey, B.C., native finished his rookie season with 17.9 points per game, shooting 54.5 per cent from the field and 40.9 per cent from three-point range, with a league-leading 2.3 steals per game.
On Thursday, the Canada West all-rookie team selection was named rookie of the year.
“I wanted to prove everyone back at home (wrong), because none of the B.C. teams took a chance on me,” Gill said.
“All of them said I was too small, too whatever, and I’m just happy to prove them wrong.”
Gill is the first BU player to win the award since Anthony Tsegakele in 2020, and current Bobcat women’s head coach Ilarion Bonhomme in 2012. Prior to them the last one was Keith Vassell in 1992.
If you judged Gill on first appearance, you’d expect him to be a speedy guard who shoots the three well but stays away from the key. You’d think he can frustrate ball-handlers defensively, but struggles with mismatches in half-court sets.
In reality, he drives as much as anyone in Canada West, and has a full bag of tricks to create space and score over taller defenders, the best being a lethal floater about two metres from the rim.
On defence, he gambles and it pays off by way of fast-break buckets.
Gill doesn’t play within a system, which didn’t scare Bobcats head coach Gil Cheung like it would some more regimented coaches.
“We never tried to change his game or have him adapt to us. Our team did a great job of adapting to the skill set he has and just let Roop be Roop,” Cheung said. “To lead the conference in field goals made being 5-9 and 140 pounds, he did an exceptional job — definitely didn’t play like a freshman.”
The Bobcats quickly learned of Gill’s potential, but it wasn’t until the pre-season opener, when he scored 21 points, that anyone but him realized how high his ceiling could be.
“Coming in, my initial goal was if I see anyone, foot on the neck. Go at everyone no matter who they are, no matter what their accolades are, I don’t really care about all that, just go at them,” Gill said. “As Allen Iverson says, we’re going to bleed all the same.
“My very first game, the first game I had 21 in pre-season and I was like ‘U Sports is easy.’”
Gill came off the bench at the start of the season, but stepped into the starting lineup when Malik Brown went down with an ankle injury late in the first semester. He never gave up the job.
Brandon went 7-13, taking the No. 12 seed for the playoffs and falling to the Manitoba Bisons in the play-in round.
It moves on to a big season of change with the graduation of first-team all-star Sultan Bhatti and fellow fifth-year Travis Hamberger.
“All that means is bigger roles for everyone else,” Gill said. “Arjun (Hehar) gets to take a bigger role, Youri (Cange) gets to take a bigger role, Max (Winters), we need him to be a post player too a little bit.”
FREE THROWS: Former Brandonite Mike Raimbault, who played for and coached the Bobcats in the 2000s, was named Canada West men’s basketball coach of the year after guiding the Winnipeg Wesmen to the No 1 seed. Winnipeg fell 92-89 in overtime in the semifinals to the UBC Thunderbirds, who visit the Victoria Vikes tonight for the conference crown at 9 p.m. CT … UBC hosts Calgary in the women’s final on Saturday at 4 p.m., after the T-Birds beat the Regina Cougars 74-68, and the Dinos knocked off the previously undefeated Saskatchewan Huskies 61-58.
QUICK HITS: The CW volleyball quarterfinal series are underway, featuring Winnipeg at Alberta, Calgary at UBC, Saskatchewan at Trinity Western and Manitoba at UBC Okanagan on the men’s side … the women’s matchups include Winipeg at Alberta, Fraser Valley at UBC, U of S at TWU and Manitoba at Thompson Rivers, which recently signed Brandonite Hannah McGregor to its class of 2027-28.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com