A perfect blend of athleticism and versatility

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This article was published 04/04/2025 (496 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Simi Shittu is the type of talent that can vault a team into championship contention.

There aren’t many players in the Canadian Elite Basketball League who possess a blend of athleticism and versatility like the 6-10 centre, and who can dominate inside the paint and do damage from range.

So, it becomes easy to understand why Winnipeg Sea Bears head coach and GM Mike Taylor was enthralled with the idea of adding the physical specimen to his roster, and why he was overjoyed when Shittu recently inked a deal to play for the club this summer.

“Our front court needed a lot of attention this off-season. We wanted to try to have more of an inside physical presence; we wanted to have more impactful scoring and rebounding inside,” Taylor told the Free Press from his home in Jacksonville, Fla.

Taylor had a front-row seat to a sensational performance by Shittu in the final meeting between the Sea Bears and the Calgary Surge in 2023. He turned in one of his best games of the season, recording a 32-point, 15-rebound double-double to solidify his place among the league’s most dominant big men.

“Simi is that inside presence that we haven’t necessarily had, as a (centre) that can do the athletic things. He’s physical, really athletic, versatile. Not only an inside scorer but has the ability to stretch and shoot threes and play in the high-post,” Taylor said.

Shittu was named to the All-CEBL First Team and CEBL All-Canadian Team in 2023 after leading the league with 9.5 rebounds per game while contributing 14.6 points per contest.

“For us, it checked a lot of boxes,” Taylor added. “When you can get who you feel is one of the top post players in the entire league on your team, you feel like that’s a big win for you.”

Shittu, born in Britain but raised in Burlington, Ont., was touted as one of the next Canadian hoops stars from a young age. At 14, he left his parents and older brother to attend Montverde Academy, a renowned prep school in Florida, where he would face other premier high school talents.

He transferred to Vermont Academy for his Grade 11 and Grade 12 seasons, when he blossomed into a five-star recruit and headlined the best freshman classes in the modern era of the Vanderbilt University men’s program.

Shittu was projected as a top-10 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft before setting foot on campus.

However, a rocky freshman campaign tanked his draft stock as the Commodores struggled to a 5-23 record. Shittu declared for the draft anyway but went unselected.

What followed is a pro career that’s included stops in six different countries — including four stints with teams in the NBA G League — as Shittu tries to latch on with an organization for more than one season.

“Simi is that inside presence that we haven’t necessarily had, as a (centre) that can do the athletic things. He’s physical, really athletic, versatile. Not only an inside scorer but has the ability to stretch and shoot threes and play in the high-post.”–GM Mike Taylor

The 25-year-old spent the winter playing Europe, first with Yukatel Merkezefendi of the Basketball Super League in Turkey and currently with Promitheas Patras of the Greek Basketball League.

“There’s definitely been highs and lows. I feel like I’ve kind of reinvented myself during the last six years,” Shittu said. “I feel I’ve matured a lot. I feel I’ve gotten a lot better and I’ve been able to show and adjust to both the European game and the NBA game.”

Despite Shittu’s pro career not starting the way he once hoped it would, he’s choosing to look at the positive and take away what can help him get back to the G League and, hopefully, the NBA.

The game has slowed down for him in recent years while he’s continued to grow physically and mentally. Most importantly, his commitment to excellence has never wavered.

“I feel like you have to love the game to go through certain things, especially at this level, because it could take a toll on certain people,” he said.

“I feel like what’s been able to get me through certain things is the love of the game because I’ve been playing this game since I was seven, eight years old, so it’s really all I know.

“It’s kind of helped me to get through certain things as an escape, even though I might not be playing as much or winning and certain things like that.”

Winnipeg made sense for Shittu for several reasons. It’s a league he’s found success in, and he’s not far from his family, who still live in Burlington.

The Sea Bears travel to the Greater Toronto Area for a back-to-back against the Brampton Honey Badgers and Scarborough Shooting Stars on June 6 and 7, respectively. Safe to say Shittu will have a few extra supporters in the crowd on those nights.

“He’s going to be that presence for us. He’s going to be a key player all summer,” said Taylor.

“You need that headline talent, you need that headline name, if your goals are to win a championship, and I think Simi, he checks a lot of boxes for us and we’re really excited to get him into a Sea Bears uniform.”

The push to win a title is as important as it’s ever been for the Sea Bears, who will host the CEBL Championship weekend from Aug. 22-24. As hosts, the Sea Bears receive an automatic berth to the Western Conference Final.

“It was somewhere I wanted to develop this summer. Be in a good environment. And then obviously you guys have a great crowd and atmosphere,” said Shittu, who played with Sea Bears forward Emmanuel Akot from a young age and was teammates with guard Mason Bourcier in Calgary.

“Just really looking for a spot where I have a good chance of winning a championship and also just getting better. Mike and I had a lot of good conversations, kind of think alike basketball-wise, too, so that made it easier.”

The Sea Bears open training camp on May 8. The club will tip off the 2025 season on May 16 against the Edmonton Stingers at Canada Life Centre.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca