Coach Bonhomme grows through busy summer

Ilarion Bonhomme could have taken some well-deserved downtime last summer, but opted for the complete opposite.

After leading the Brandon University women’s basketball team to its first Canada West playoff berth since 2017 — not counting the 2021-22 season when all 17 teams participated in the post-season — Bonhomme accepted an offer to assistant coach the Winnipeg Sea Bears.

He was certainly rewarded, as the team won its first Canadian Elite Basketball League championship in just its third season, defeating the Brampton Honey Badgers 98-84 in the final.

“It was super busy but obviously super fun, and an unbelievable learning experience to work with that calibre of players, be around different coaches and see how different coaches do things,” Bonhomme said.

“Connecting with the players was really fun for me, hearing their different stories. That’s what I really love about coaching.”

Bonhomme got the job when newly appointed head coach Mike Raimbault reached out before the 2026 campaign. The two have known each other for more than a decade, as Raimbault, the Winnipeg Wesmen bench boss, coached against him during his time with the Bobcats in the early 2010s, and with the Manitoba Bisons from 2016 to 2018.

When Bonhomme moved on to start his professional basketball career, he helped Raimbault with scouting reports.

Bonhomme said he did a “little bit of everything,” from video to scouting and pre-game warmups.

His main focus was player development. He ran players through individual work just about every morning and learned a lot through those sessions.

“The work I do with those guys is different than the work I do here with our women,” Bonhomme said.

“They want to work on what they need to do to be successful in this context, but you’ve got to understand they have completely different roles when they go to Europe.”

One example he highlighted is D.J. Burns, a six-foot-seven forward who typically plays further away from the basket overseas but held his own as a centre for the Sea Bears when they wanted to roll out a smaller lineup.

Bobcat fans can think back to Anthony Tsegakele on the men’s team from 2019 to 2023 as a similar player, as coach Gil Cheung often kept him as the tallest guy on the floor at just six-foot-six.

“He was the ultimate small-ball 5 (centre) for us and a big reason why we won the championship. He gets the game-winning assist,” Bonhomme said. “In his next contract, he might not play any 5.”

The takeaway is that especially with how the sport has evolved, it’s important for players to be able to play every position.

“Every player from point guards to centres should work on everything,” Bonhomme said. “Point guards should do post work for footwork. A lot of the footwork you do in the post is similar to what you do pivoting in the triple-threat position on the perimeter.”

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Bonhomme’s busy summer only got crazier after the Sea Bears visited the Montreal Alliance on June 5. He visited a former BU teammate, Ali-Mounir Benabdelhak, and his friend Evens Laroche. They talked about Bonhomme’s pro experience, which gave Laroche an idea.

His brother, Hernst, has competed for the Haitian national team, and knowing Bonhomme is of Haitian descent, connected him with the program.

A few days later, Bonhomme was lined up to fly to Miami for a Team Haiti camp in the first week of July. He worked with the team before they won their first-ever FIBA game at the FIBA AmeriCup 2029 Caribbean Pre-Qualifiers, 77-68 over Grenada.

Haiti added two more wins over Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Cayman Islands to finish 3-1 in group play.

“Unbelievable opportunity,” Bonhomme said. “That meant so much to me. My parents were so proud of it, being born and raised in Haiti and only moving to America when they were 35. Being able to do that in the middle of the Sea Bears stuff was super cool.”

Bonhomme came back to help the Sea Bears make the playoffs, then roll through the Saskatoon Mamba 99-88 and Vancouver Bandits 107-96 to reach what was supposed to be a best-of-three final against the Honey Badgers.

However, the first game in Brampton, Ont., was called off just a few minutes in due to an unplayable court. The CEBL opted to shift to a one-game final in Winnipeg, instead of the previously scheduled Games 2 and 3 in the Manitoba capital on Aug. 15 and 16.

It wasn’t even close as Winnipeg won by 14. Bonhomme didn’t hesitate to pinpoint the two big reasons for his club’s success.

“Crazy-unselfish basketball on both sides of the ball,” he said. “Defensively, if you have a whole roster filled with guys who are willing to sacrifice everything to get a stop, you’re going to be pretty special. Offensively, same thing. No one cares who gets to shine; they’re trying to share the ball and trying to win the game.

“Then we get the ultimate ace with Xavier Moon. He’s on a different level; he’s the best player in that league. Any time you have a player like that, you have a chance. We lost tons of bodies to all types of reasons but every game we had a chance because we had the best player.”

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Now back with the Bobcats, Bonhomme feels more prepared than ever to take on his third season as head coach.

He feels Brandon has been on the right track since he arrived, and a jump from 2-18 to 7-13 backs that up.

But going from assistant coach back to head coach, he has a stronger emphasis on developing his staff.

“Seeing all the different coaches do things, in a lot of ways, reinforced stuff our staff is doing here. We’re doing a good job, so wanting to lean into it more.

“Being in an assistant coach role was good for me because I want to be the best coach I can for my assistant coaches,” he said.

“That’s more important for me, trying to find ways to make sure I’m empowering them. We did that before, but sitting down and having conversations with them to understand, ‘Why do you want to coach?’ ‘How can I help you?’ ‘What positions can we put you in to develop yourself?’

“Being on the other side of it, I want to do it more and more.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com