Hi everyone!
We hope you are all safe and healthy and staying in good spirits. For this update, we thought that we would give you some updates on a few of our recent alums. I asked them to write a brief summary of their lives since graduating from UBC. Here is what they had to say.
Take care,
Kevin
PHILIP JALALPOOR
Dear Alumni and Friends of the program,
- Vancouver (2015-2018)
I am really excited to give this little update on what I have been doing since my last season as a part of the UBC Men's Basketball team and my graduation from our great university in the April of 2018.
- Logroño, Spain (2018-2019)
Pretty soon after my graduation I had to say farewell to Vancouver, the place I got to call my second home for over 3 years due to the expiration of my student visa. I returned back home to Germany to start a new chapter of my life and upon connecting with an agency I decided to sign my first professional contract in Spain for the 2018-19 season. This was a tough decision for me as it went against the advice of many, who recommended that I start my professional career back home in the Bundesliga (top-tier league in Germany), but I felt like I needed another big challenge somewhere else first. The adventure of diving into a completely unfamiliar culture and the experience of attempting to perform at the best level outside your personal comfort zone is something I really became to cherish in the years being overseas in Canada. During this rather challenging season in Spain, I was able to learn a lot about what it means to play professional sports, and what it will take in the future to establish yourself as a top-caliber player in Europe.
At the same time I decided to further my education and was accepted with my Bachelor's degree into a distance education Master's program of a German university due to the great worldwide reputation of UBC. This degree allows me to do most my course work online, so that I can work around the busy practice and game schedule. As of now I am scheduled to graduate in the Fall of 2021 with a Master's of Arts in Sports Management.
After leaving Spain I was able to return to Vancouver and the UBC campus for most of the break we do get in the summer. Coach Hanson provided me with the great opportunity to make use of the basketball facilities back at the UBC campus and allowed me to join their summer team workouts in order for me to keep improving my game for the upcoming season. It was a great feeling to be welcomed back as an Alumni like this and to be able to feel like a Thunderbird once more.
- St. Pölten, Austria (2019-2020)
For my second professional season I was offered a great deal in the top-tier league in Austria, where I believe other former players of our UBC program had been playing in the past. As it turned out this was one of my best personal seasons of my entire basketball career including university and pro. The team really allowed me to play my game and we were able to rise above all pre-season media predictions as a unit. Just before the start of our playoffs the season came to an abrupt hold to the rise of the corona virus epidemic. We were sent home immediately to avoid the possibility of being stuck in a foreign country. Shortly there after, the season was cancelled altogether failing to crown a league champion.
Even though this was a serious blow to our team, it seems to be the absolute correct decision in order to protect fans and players and the wider population. As I write this currently I am observing how this epidemic is unfolding hoping everybody is safe and healthy around the globe.
As far as my professional career it is definitely uncertain how the pro sport basketball scene will continue in the future, but I believe with my performance this past season I will get the chance to continue taking steps in my professional career. All I can do at this moment is to take care of all the things that are in my control in order to continuously improve my game. This world crisis definitely puts many things into perspective, showing all of us players how privileged and blessed we are to be able to do what we love for a living each season.
Lastly, I wanted to say a big thank you to all the Alumni, Friends, and all other supporters of our UBC Men's Basketball program. As I have said in the past during my senior night's speech, the opportunities that you guys have opened up for past players and continue to open up for our current and future players are nothing short of amazing. My time at UBC truly did prepare me for my time as a professional player and helped me grow as a person. I will forever be thankful for the support you guys provided me with and I am proud to call myself a Thunderbird Alumni for the rest of my life.
I hope everybody is staying healthy and I look forward to seeing you all at some point in the future!
Best wishes,
Philip
MICHAEL STEELE
About a year after graduating UBC, I started a company called The Good Stuff with Graeme Taylor and Tonner Jackson, another UBC basketball alumnus. The three of us met while at Sauder. We deliver frozen smoothie packs to people's homes. Part of the reason we started it is we found it a little harder to stay healthy once we weren't playing ball every day... We even named one smoothie the Thunderbird.
It has been a wild, up-and-down ride over the past few years. But we've benefitted from the growing demand for home delivery, especially as coronavirus has sent people indoors, and are thankful to have some relative stability in this economy.
Most recently, we are finalizing a sale of the company (can't say to who until it's announced). I will be still involved in some capacity on the marketing side, but I've moved to Toronto to focus on my second business, Flywheel Digital. We are a technical marketing agency: helping people with online ads, showing up in Google, etc. If anyone wants to talk about going online, I'm happy to chat atmichael@flywheel.digital.
And if any alumni want to get something healthy delivered, you can get free delivery and 25% off your 1st order with the code 'TBIRDS' ;).
Thanks,
Mike
JORDAN JENSEN-WHYTE
Hi Everyone,
I would like to thank all for taking the time out of your day to catch up with my life as an Alumnus of UBC. I would like to thank Kevin and Theresa Hanson, the coaching staff, my teammates, the athletic department, the donors and fellow Alumni of UBC for their incredibly generous support while I attended UBC, as it was that support that opened so many more experiences in my academic and basketball careers. As well I hope you and your families are doing well and staying strong, while apart, during these challenging times.
August-December 2017
In the summer of 2017 I was given the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2017 FISU Games in Taipei, Taiwan. Those games were an unforgettable experience and they provided me a perfect transition to the next level of basketball. After the games, I got the opportunity to start my professional basketball career over in St. John's, Newfoundland, where my ex-UBC teammate and former All-Canadian Doug Plumb was assistant coaching the new franchise in the NBL named the St. John's Edge. Heading there I had no idea what it was going to be like and honestly, I had an absolute blast during my short stay there. The people were extremely friendly and although it was cold, the sights were beautiful and the basketball was high caliber. I was determined to make my mark there as one of my teammates ended up being a long-time National Team player and Canada Basketball legend, Carl English. Needless to say, I picked his brain as often as I could. Unfortunately, my time there ended abruptly as in the ninth game of the season I tore my left ACL going up for a contested lay-up.
January-February 2019
The ACL injury changed my life and no doubt was one of the most challenging obstacles I have conquered but I am beyond proud to say I did it. My support system went into overdrive, as I was constantly reminded day-in and day-out just how phenomenal the people were that surrounded me. I had an amazing team, lead by physiotherapist, Jennifer Delich and a strength and conditioning coach, Jamie McCartney. I was on an extremely meticulous and well-designed program and I loved every step of the way. The other part of my team was my family and friends, led by my Mom. They were the support I needed and provided me with all the resources necessary to have success in my rehabilitation. Although tearing an ACL isn’t something any athlete wants to go through, for me it gave me the year I needed to facilitate and really think about what I was going to do and accomplish once my basketball career had reached its end. I was able to pull away from the game, which I felt I needed at that point in my life, and ended up taking a number of courses at the University of Calgary. I shifted my academic focus when I went back to school and with a sociology degree from UBC in my back pocket I was motivated to find a field to compliment my knowledge in Sociology. I took multiple Law and Society courses and had a few professors that inspired me to pursue a potential career in Law. I now sit with a competitive GPA and I am one LSAT away from applying to Law school. How things in one’s life can change so quickly. This academic interest in Calgary took me right to my next opportunity that I am extremely grateful to share with all.
February-November 2019
I committed to a group of professional basketball players based out of Alberta that were interested in entering a professional team into the FIBA 3x3 World Tour circuit. I know many of you probably don’t know much, if anything, about international 3x3 basketball and neither did I at the time. But what I did know was that it was a perfect setting for me to work my way back into the basketball world coming off my ACL injury and I felt so privileged to have been asked by the players to play with them on such an elite team. The guys I was going to be playing with were all and are outstanding players, and we created Team Edmonton. The season started on April 13th, 2019 and went all the way to November 9th, 2019. In that time we travelled and played against highly ranked and competitive international teams in places such as: Japan, Malaysia, China, Serbia, Germany, Mexico, Spokane, Cyprus, Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia to just name a few and received financial support through Alberta basketball and FIBA. It was a highly successful season and we ended up winning enough tournaments that led to Team Edmonton going from ranked 24th in the world to being ranked eighth. The best part about all of this is that 3x3 is going to be a new Olympic sport in Tokyo 2021 so I have my eyes set, just as my teammates at becoming an Olympian in 2021.
January-March 2020
In the time since the 3x3 season has ended I have been living in Calgary, working part-time as a referee in basketball community, studying for my LSAT and working hard on the basketball court and weight room for whatever is next. If there is anything I have learned over the past few years it is that life can change in an instant and the more prepared you are, the easier you will be able to adapt to whatever situation you find yourself in. I’m certainly on the road less traveled and I couldn’t be happier to be on it.
I am excited for the future and I am beyond proud to say I graduated from the University of British Columbia and that I am still apart of its continued success.
Thank you again for taking the time to catch up with me and I hope everyone continues to staying well and strong through the pandemic.
Much Love,
Jordan Jensen-Whyte #6
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