Can't-Miss Kid!
Aaron Doornekamp was a very highly-touted recruit when he joined the Carleton basketball program out of Ernestown Secondary School in 2004-05. Even before his first game as a Raven some observers were evaluating his chances of one day claiming the Mike Moser Memorial Trophy as CIS most valuable player.
The expectations were high and the six-foot-seven forward, now a member of the Canadian national team's 18-man roster, met all of them.
Four years ago, Doornekamp joined a very talented Carleton squad that had just won back-to-back national championships. In his first season, he not only fit in as the Ravens captured their third straight CIS crown, he led the team in scoring at the Final 10 in Halifax and was named a CIS tournament all-star.
Carleton would remain atop the CIS basketball world for two more seasons, with Doornekamp claiming second-team all-Canadian honours in his sophomore campaign in 2005-06 and a CIS championship MVP nod a year ago.
This season, the Ravens' chase of Victoria's record of seven straight CIS banners came to a heartbreaking end when they were edged in double overtime by Acadia in the national semi-finals, in front of over 9,000 home fans at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. Two days earlier, however, Doornekamp had received the highest individual distinction in CIS men's hoops, the Moser Trophy.
In all fairness to his opponents, maybe the commerce student from Odessa, Ont., did have a head start in his basketball life. His cousins Rob and Mike, a BLG Award nominee in 2004, are both former Raven greats. His siblings Amy (UPEI), Ben (Carleton, Queen's) and Nate (Boston College) were also university players. At Carleton, he plays under uncle Dave Smart, while another uncle, Rob Sr., is the head coach at Queen's University. His high school coach was Tom Turnbull, father of current teammate Stuart.
"The time Aaron has spent working on his game on his own time during the off season really started to show in his play this year," Dave Smart said.
Some would argue Doornekamp's game wasn't half bad before that…
Doornekamp’s Accomplishments: |
