For years, Carleton University in Ottawa has been synonymous with basketball.
Led by head coach Dave Smart, the men’s program racked up 17 titles in a 20-year span — more than any Canadian or U.S. college or university team has ever won.
And so when Dani Sinclair left her alma mater Victoria to become the Ravens’ women’s head coach in 2020, she was ready to embrace the pressure.
“There’s a tiny bit of paranoia — like a healthy paranoia — that I think exists in any successful program. Because if you take your foot off the gas, like you look at Dave, there’s no way he’s winning that number of games and championships if you relax. You’ve always got to have some level of healthy anxiety,” Sinclair said.
Under Sinclair’s watch, the Carleton women have won two straight national titles, and they’re enjoying a 22-0 start to the current season. This year’s Canada-wide championships run from March 13-16 at UBC, with live streaming available on CBC Sports.
While there’s still a long way to go for the women’s program to catch the men’s, it appears a new dynasty is budding at the Ravens’ Nest.
“I knew that I could fail and I kind of approach that daily like this could all blow up in my face at any point. But I was kind of excited at that prospect and OK with the pressure that came with it,” Sinclair said.
“When you have the level of resources that we have here and the people, you kind of realize you can drop your ego a little bit. That’s a huge part of the Carleton culture is it’s not really about me. It’s not really about any given person. We all just are trying to do something together.”
Jacqueline Urban, the third-year forward from Hamilton, Ont., has never not won the national championship during her U Sports career.
In fact, Urban, 21, only has endured just four total losses as a Raven.
Dave Smart’s legacy lives on
She said Smart’s legacy continues to linger over the entire Carleton basketball program even as he now coaches the Pacific Tigers in Stockton, Calif.
“His name is like almost like worshipped when you come to Carleton,” Urban said.
During practices, Sinclair will often point to the banners that hang in the gym.
“She’ll throw out his name and she’ll be like, ‘Do you think like Dave Smart just did this for whatever? … Do you think these mean nothing?'” Urban said.
As they march through the final month of the season with targets square on their backs, the Ravens will rely on the standards set two decades earlier and passed through to the women’s team.
“The standards are always increasing, but it’s because [Sinclair] knows what we’re capable of. So I think a lot of times where the frustration and passion and eagerness comes out is when we’ve proven we’ve done it before,” Urban said.
Sinclair said Smart instilled in her that interpersonal relationships are most important of continually reaching high standards.
“From the outside, we just look like we’re demanding, and we are all about winning. And really, I think we’ve had success because we focus on the people. And we’re able to challenge them in certain ways because we’ve built connections with them,” Sinclair said.
Urban has seen her on- and off-court roles increase on the year. She has started every game, scoring 11.2 points and hauling in 8.1 rebounds per contest while stepping into a leadership role following the departure of star Kali Pocrnic.
She said she feeds off Sinclair’s interpersonal skills.
“Anytime there’s a basketball analogy, she’ll just move it straight to life, straight to school, straight to family. It’s never just about basketball with her, which I think is something that’s really special and unique,” Urban said.
Still, while the groundwork was in place when Sinclair arrived, she attempted to inject her own twist on the Carleton way of doing things — something the pandemic helped with as games were cancelled while practices provided a smooth way to introduce herself.
Not that the formula is overly complicated, anyway.
“You expect that there’s going to be this magical way of doing things. And the truth is they just work harder than other people. And so I think that’s the first thing is like, you’re never too big time. You never are too big for the work,” Sinclair said.
It’s a perfect fit for Sinclair, who can take the “one game at a time” sports cliché quite literally.
“I’m too superstitious to even think about it,” she said of a potential third consecutive title. “And they know not to talk about it around me. They do all the planning behind the scenes. I joke that I don’t even know where it is. And I purposely don’t look at [the standings].”
Carleton’s culture
Urban said the mindset flows down to players, too.
“It’s hard to explain what we’re like. Obviously you can explain it, but experiencing Carleton is so different. But once you’re here, you really immerse yourself in the culture and it’s weird. You all become synced. Like you’re all in the same wavelength,” Urban said.
Given their spotless record and growing trophy case, it’s apparent the chemistry is paying off on the court.
Yet Urban and Sinclair both acknowledged that things haven’t been all smooth sailing.
They’ve also both watched as the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces and NFL’s Kansas City failed in recent three-peat bids of their own.
Urban admitted the potential accomplishment sits in the back of her mind.
“I can’t picture how a season would look any other way. … But for us, it’s kind of like building blocks every time. So once we get to the next level, I think that’s where more excitement comes, especially when it gets this close to the end of the season,” she said.
“We’re in a place that has been so successful and we just want to carry it on.”
