Justus returns to court with Sea Bears CEBL club gives Winnipegger chance to hoop and be close to family By: Taylor Allen Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, May. 24, 2023

Justus Alleyn was carving out an impressive professional basketball career overseas when he was dealt some devastating news.

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Justus Alleyn was carving out an impressive professional basketball career overseas when he was dealt some devastating news.

His mom, Catherine, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

BROOK JONES / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Winnipegger Justus Alleyn stepped away from his pro career in Europe to be close to his mother as she battled cancer. He is returning to the game with the Winnipeg Sea Bears.

Alleyn, a 6-3 guard who played for the Manitoba Bisons between 2013-18 and holds the school’s record for most career points, decided he needed to hit the pause button and sit out last season.

“It was definitely a tough situation. It’s one of those things where you want to be there for her and the rest of the family, but you’re so far away so you feel you can’t do anything. Even if you were home, you want to fix the situation or make it better, but it’s kind of out of your hands. It was not easy to deal with, for sure,” Alleyn told the Free Press on Wednesday.

“It just kind of made more sense for me to be back home and closer to family and be there for her. She’s doing a lot better now. They’re just monitoring her and making sure all the treatment was working and that the cancer is actually gone. So, she’s doing great and starting to feel a lot healthier.”

Alleyn is one of the most successful pro hoopers the province has produced in quite some time. He played two seasons (2018-19 and 2020-21) in Czechia’s first division with Nova Hut Ostrava, and one year in Slovakia’s (2019-20) with BK Spisska Rytieri where he finished second in league scoring with 17.9 points per game.

Despite being home, he remained busy as his economics degree from the U of M helped him launch a career in the finance industry. He also stayed involved in the sport by doing some coaching with a local youth program called Attack Basketball.

Alleyn still had the itch, so when it was announced last November that the Canadian Elite Basketball League was adding the Winnipeg Sea Bears as an expansion team, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

“It just kind of made more sense for me to be back home and closer to family and be there for (his mother). She’s doing a lot better now.”–Justus Alleyn

Alleyn, 27, is one of seven Winnipeg products — Chad Posthumus, Simon Hildebrandt, Ryan Luke, Shawn Maranan, Donald Stewart and Narcisse Ambanza being the others — on the Sea Bears’ 16-man training camp roster. The city’s newest pro team kicks off the season on Saturday at the Canada Life Centre against the Vancouver Bandits at 7 p.m.

“After that last year in Europe with everything going on with COVID and my mom’s health stuff, it made me fall out of love with not necessarily the game in general, but that part of it of me playing. I think that time away from it really made me miss it. I missed competing and being a part of a team, so when I heard Winnipeg was getting a team, right away I knew I wanted to put myself back out there, get back in shape, and see where it could take me,” said Alleyn, who made a name for himself at St. Paul’s High School before starring with the Herd.

Sea Bears sell out

The Winnipeg Sea Bears have yet to play a game and they’ve already etched their name into the CEBL record book.

The club announced earlier in the week their original 4,500-seat configuration for Canada Life Centre had sold out for Saturday’s season opener against the visiting Vancouver Bandits, making it the largest crowd in league history.

The Winnipeg Sea Bears have yet to play a game and they’ve already etched their name into the CEBL record book.

With the high demand, the Sea Bears expanded the seating and had sold 6,100 tickets as of Wednesday afternoon.

The league’s average attendance in 2022 was around 2,000 fans per game.

“We’re quite excited about the reaction. We’re very thankful that Winnipeggers and Manitobans have really taken to our first game,” Sea Bears owner David Asper told the Free Press.

“It’s way more than we had planned for or expected, so this is all a great thing. It’s great for the sport, it’s great for our home opener, and now we feel pressure to meet or beat expectations.”

Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Taylor thinks this is only a sign of things to come.

“Winnipeg is a wonderful sports town. We see that with the Jets, we see that with the Bombers, and we see that with the other pro sports. Basketball has been a missing piece and I think this is going to be a fantastic CEBL market,” said Taylor.

“It’s a great response from the city and I think this has the potential to be one of the destination locations in the CEBL because of the Canada Life Centre, because of the Sport for Life Centre (the team’s training facility), and because of the situation. I’m completely impressed with Winnipeg and I’m really excited about the sellout, the additional seats, and all the enthusiasm in the city. We can’t wait for a great summer ahead.”

— Taylor Allen

“It’s perfect to be able to play at home in front of my friends and family where a lot of them haven’t seen me play since college.”

When Sea Bears head coach and general manager Mike Taylor heard about Alleyn, one of the first things to jump out was the fact he used to play for Nova Hut Ostrava.

Unlike the average person, Taylor can say it’s a team, and city, that he knows very well.

Ostrava has more than 280,000 residents and is in northeastern Czechia.

“My wife is from Ostrava, (Czechia). My father-in-law, Gerald Dietl, is a former Czechoslovakia national team player. He had a long overseas career and played until he was in his late 30s and his career started with Nova Hut Ostrava,” said Taylor.

“I’ve been there a lot, so Justus and I have had a great time discussing some of the places in the city, and how the gym is old and really unique. But when I told my father-in-law ‘Hey, we’ve got a guy who played for Ostrava,’ he loved it. So, I think Justus is his favourite player on the team.”

Alleyn is one of the more experienced players on the Sea Bears, but may start the year on the practice roster since he’s working his way back into action. Regardless of where Alleyn begins the 20-game season, Taylor is intrigued by what he has in the Winnipegger.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Justus Alleyn while playing for the Manitoba Bisons in 2016.

“The (Czech) league, especially in Ostrava, is known for recycling import players, so the fact that Justus played there for two years is a sign that they really liked him,” said Taylor.

“So, for him to go in there, play well, and score is a great sign… It’s great experience and you can see he’s a mature player on the court. But that’s what it’s about, this team, this league is for the local guys, it’s for the Canadians, and we want to put together a great team that the city can fall in love with.”

Alleyn is no stranger to the CEBL as he was picked in the third round, 16th overall, by the Saskatchewan Rattlers in the league’s inaugural draft back in 2019. He went on to play nine games in Saskatoon that summer before heading to Slovakia.

Alleyn believes local basketball fans are in for a treat.

“I learned that it’s a super-fast paced league, super athletic, really high talent level. And it’s just a fun atmosphere for the fans,” said Alleyn.

“They have music playing during the games, there’s stuff going on during timeouts, it gives you as close to an NBA feel you can get without being at an NBA game.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31