Hoop dreams

Simon Farine and his team play in the AUS championships this weekend at the Halifax Metro Centre. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Simon Farine’s basketball resume is an impressive one. Over the past few years as a Dalhousie Tiger, he was named a 2007-08 and 2008-09 second team AUS all-star, 2008-09 AUS championship MVP and a 2009-10 first team AUS all-star.

A native of Toronto, Ont., he began playing basketball at the age of 10. His dad has had a tremendous influence on him throughout his career.

“My dad got me into basketball when I was young and coached me throughout high school,” says Mr. Farine. “He still follows the team quite intensely from back home in Toronto. He’s been out here five or six times this year to watch me play.”

Mr. Farine spent his first year out of high school playing NCAA basketball at the University of Wisconsin, but he quickly knew that he wanted to return home to Canada and had many offers from different Canadian universities.

“I decided to leave the States and I had a couple of choices in Canada that I was thinking about.  I came to Dal mainly because I talked to John Campbell and I liked him right away. I also wanted to be away from home and one of my best friends was at Dal so I thought I would try it out. It has worked out amazingly.”

'Instrumental'

It was not long before Mr. Farine became one of the Tigers’ best players, demonstrating natural leadership both on and off the court. The advice he gives to rookies is simply to do their best and to find the balance between athletics and academics. Tigers head coach John Campbell was very helpful with this, he says.

“I have become a lot better with my responsibilities off the court because John demands it from his players in terms of making sure we’re on time and showing up to work hard on and off the court.”

Tigers head coach John Campbell says, “Simon has played an instrumental role in the renewal of the Dalhousie program and has added excitement to the court at Dalplex from the moment he arrived on campus.”

When asked what the highlight of his years as a Tiger was, Mr. Farine responds it was in March of 2009 when Dal won its first AUS championship since 1996.

“We had the support of many fans at the Metro Centre for the AUS championship. It was one of the best days of my life to be honest.”

He dominated the tournament averaging 29.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and six assists per game. He’s excited for the upcoming AUS championship, which will take place at the Halifax Metro Centre from March 4 to 6.

Confident

“I look forward to the tournament being back in Halifax. When the Metro Centre gets going it’s a really fun place to play and hopefully we can win it all.”

The Tigers have won seven of their last eight games and are currently second place in the AUS standings, 10 points behind first-place Cape Breton Capers.

“I think we’re playing our best basketball of the year right now. It’s a good time to be peaking going into the tournament this weekend. I think we’re confident and ready to have a good tournament.”

Mr. Farine hopes to end his years as a Tiger with another AUS championship title as well as a trip to the CIS championship, which will also be held at the Halifax Metro Centre March 11-13. He will graduate in May and then plans to continue his basketball career playing professionally in Europe.

“The plan right now is to play professionally,” he says. “Hopefully I’ll know where I’m going by mid-summer. Spain would be really nice. I’ve been talking to people in Israel, which is a good possibility for me. Anywhere with the best contract and the best living situation.”

Mr. Farine will graduate with a degree in Management and leaves the basketball program as the second leading scorer in Tigers history with 1,452 regular season points over his career of 76 games, right behind Dean Thibodeau with 1,589 points in 91 games with Dal from 1988-93.

The Tigers men’s basketball team will battle for the AUS title at the Halifax Metro Centre starting with a semifinal game on Saturday, March 5 at 8:15 p.m. Bring out the pots, pans and other noise makers as well as your best black and gold gear to show off your Tiger spirit! For tickets, contact Ticket Atlantic at (902) 451-1221 or visit their website at www.ticketatlantic.com. Dalhousie fans will be sitting in section nine, so Dal folks are invited to purchase tickets for that area or as close as possible.