Raven Smendziuk can finally rest

By Josh Bell
It was a picture-perfect finish to Kyle Smendziuk’s basketball career. A fourth Canadian university championship in his five years at Carleton. A dominant 92-42 final victory over Lakehead that his coach would even have trouble criticizing.
And a record-breaking ninth title for his Carleton Ravens – all in front of family and friends on March 10 at Scotiabank Place, just down the street from where he plied his craft at All Saints Catholic High School.
“We train really hard throughout the year so it’s a nice reward at the end,” highlights Smendziuk, pinpointing work ethic – and Dave Smart-recruited players who embrace that – as the big key to the Ravens’ success.
“I think Carleton will be the milestone stage for basketball for me. I don’t see myself playing professional or anything like that,” the starting forward adds. “To be standing there in front of thousands of people, it was definitely a great feeling (to end with).”
Leaving behind high-performance sport and the demands of being a Raven will be a big change for Smendziuk, but he’s perhaps better prepared than many since he’s not a stereotypical basketball player with a single interest.
Smendziuk was the lone player whose major was mentioned by the announcer at the CIS Final 8 – “now re-entering the game, the fifth-year aerospace engineering student, Kyle Smendziuk” – although his next pursuit may well lie in the DJ services business he started last summer, Extreme Entertainment.
“I’m always keeping busy and that’s the way I like to be,” Smendziuk smiles. “Now that I’ve had some free time after the season I definitely notice. There are a lot of things I was maybe missing out on off the court and out of the class so now I have time to catch up.”
But he certainly wouldn’t trade any of basketball memories, especially the final performance that cemented his Ravens as the best CIS team of all-time with their ninth championship in 11 years.
“That’s always the goal at the beginning of the year, to win a championship,” notes Smendziuk, who doesn’t foresee the Ravens’ reign falling any time soon. “In a sense anything less and some people would be disappointed. As a team we’re pretty happy.”