K-W Titans start latest season with new players and outlook

The Basketball Super League's 2023-2024 season is underway and the K-W Titans are off to an even start, with two wins and two loses.

But over the coming weeks, Coach James Robinson says he expects they'll earn more wins as the team members get to know each other.

"The team's gelling more now because everybody's starting at the same time. So when it comes to the recruiting process, when it comes to signing guys, getting guys here, getting on the message, training camp, we've had more time to prepare for that," Robinson said.

Robinson said that time to prepare wasn't a luxury they had last season.

"We had a lot of drop offs here and there but at the same time, we were rushed together, the team was thrown together and games were back-to-back," he said. "There was no real mesh time in between that." 

"We didn't really start figuring it out until probably the first couple games before the playoffs."

This year, Robinson said they've added an almost entirely new roster, with Forward Jaquan Lightfoot and Point Guard Juwan Miller being the only returning players.

"We went with younger, newer faces…hungrier guys and guys just looking to play the right way and get better," he said.

Robinson said they've started partnering players up with one another for individual work outs and travel.

"We give these guys a lot of structure now, which to me is better because within structure you build tighter bonds."

Ownership changes

More changes have been made off the court, too. The KW Titans have switched up their corporate organizational structure, going public with a not-for-profit model, much like the Kitchener Rangers.

David Schooley is the CEO of Titans Basketball Corp. He said his intentions were always to model the team's ownership after the Kitchener Rangers.

"The season ticket holders, in essence, own the team."

"A lot of people don't really understand the not-for-profit concept. The idea is to make a profit. The profit goes back in and any excess revenues go back into the community. Just like with Rangers Reach," Schooley said.

Schooley said he wants to steer the team toward further immersing themselves in Waterloo region's community.

"We signed what is, quite likely, a historic partnership with Three Rivers YMCA," he said. "We've had players and coaches in their drop-in basketball program since September."

"We see somewhere between 600 and 800 youth a week in those programs."

These programs run at every Three Rivers YMCA locations, in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph, with a program to start up at a Stratford YMCA in the future. Schooley said that a membership with the YMCA isn't necessary to participate.

"The Titans are in the community every single day."

The Titans are set to play their next game Jan. 20 at home when they host the Windsor Express and then host the Montreal Toundra the next day, Jan. 21. Both games are at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.