March 19, 2001 For Immediate Release

Reg Carrick, the coach who guided the UNBC men's basketball team in its first two seasons of varsity action, has resigned.

"Reg will be hard to replace," says UNBC President Charles Jago. "He was an excellent recruiter and brought students to UNBC from all over western Canada and even the US. In each of Reg's two seasons with UNBC, the men's team cracked the national ranking and their entertaining style of play helped to pack the CNC Gym for home games. Even though Reg has decided to move on to other opportunities, UNBC is committed to its varsity basketball program and has already begun to search for a new coach." An advertisement for the position will be posted at UNBC this week.

This year, the UNBC Northern Timberwolves men's basketball team finished with a record of eight wins and ten losses, despite posting a winning record at home. The team made it to the BC Colleges' Athletic Association playoffs for the first time, but lost in the first round to Langara College.

"There is so much potential for the program at UNBC, but it's hard to keep moving forward without our own facility, bigger scholarships for the players, and more support from the University," says Carrick.

The University's fundraising office has worked with Athletics to implement a number of new fundraising initiatives - such as a mail-out campaign and the adopt-an-athlete program - to support the program and its student athletes. To date, more than $11,000 has been raised this fiscal year from private donors. In addition, the Operation Red Nose Program brought in close to $8,000 this year.

UNBC is continuing to investigate options for building its proposed Sportsplex. A concept for the facility was developed last year in partnership with a number of community organizations, but no funding for the building has yet been secured.