Another Canadian has joined the Oklahoma City Thunder organization.
Ottawa's Sean Stoqua became an athletic performance coach for the Thunder and the Oklahoma City Blue, the NBA team's G-League affiliate, in September. Two of the players he's now working with are Hamilton's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Montreal's Luguentz Dort.
"Super exciting, obviously, to get to work with the Canadian starting backcourt, right from our national team," said Stoqua in a recent phone interview from Oklahoma City. "It's been fun getting to meet those guys and chatting with them a little bit. It's nice having other Canadians in the building.
"It's definitely made me feel at home, and I'm super excited to get to work more with (Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort) in the future."
Stoqua graduated with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in kinesiology from Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., where he played football and basketball for the Axemen from 2011 to 2015. He then returned to his hometown to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in physiotherapy at the University of Ottawa from 2017 to 2019, where he plated on the Gee-Gees basketball team.
He turned pro in 2021, playing in Armenia, Germany, and Bulgaria, before becoming a strength coach for Balkan Botevgrad of the Bulgarian Basketball League.
In the summer of 2023 he signed on to the practice roster of the Ottawa Blackjacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, making him the fourth generation of his family to sign with a pro sports team in Canada's capital.
His great grandfather Sutherland (Suddy) Gilmour was one of three brothers to play for the original Ottawa Senators, the so-called Silver Seven, who won the Stanley Cup in 1904. His grandfather Blair Gilmour played for the Ottawa Rough Riders and his father Pat Stoqua was a wide receiver for the Ottawa Rough Riders for six years in the 1980s.
"For me to be a part of that team as a player two years ago was huge, just to keep that tradition alive within my family, playing pro sports in Ottawa," said Stoqua, who became the Blackjacks' performance director last season. "The past year, working as the performance director for the Ottawa Blackjacks was huge for helping me develop as a professional and help take the next step in my career."
Stoqua's experience as a strength coach and performance director in the CEBL and Bulgaria created a direct path to the NBA.
"I couldn't have asked for a better transition," said Stoqua. "This time last year I was overseas playing in Bulgaria and working as a strength coach for the team in Bulgaria.
"I seamlessly made the transition about a year later to retiring from playing basketball and moving on to my full professional career as a strength or athletic performance coach and physiotherapist."
Stoqua said he was especially grateful to James Derouin, the general manager and head coach of the Blackjacks, for giving him a chance.
"They helped give me a lot of closure to my basketball career," said Stoqua, who was also thankful for the opportunity to be the performance director for the CEBL team. "That was huge for helping me develop as a professional and help take the next step in my career."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2024.
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John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
