Ottawa, ON – On Friday afternoon, the Ottawa BlackJacks announced the firing of head coach Charles Dubé-Brais, confirming that University of Ottawa Gee-Gees head coach and Ottawa BlackJacks Director of Basketball Strategy and Analytics, James Derouin would take over in the interim.
Dubé-Brais coached the BlackJacks to a 98-81 loss to the Scarborough Shooting Stars a night ago that saw their record drop to 0-3 and put them in ninth place in the CEBL conference, only ahead of the Newfoundland Growlers, who have yet to play a game.
It is a disappointing end to the tenure of Dubé-Brais, who finished his time in Ottawa with a 4-13 record over two seasons but saw his team make a surprise appearance in the CEBL Final Four a year ago. With the 2022 CEBL Championship Weekend set to take place in Ottawa in August, though, clearly, General Manager Jevohn Shepherd saw that a different voice was needed to pull Ottawa out of their early-season slump.
James Derouin takes over as the new head coach of the Ottawa BlackJacks as an absolute veteran of the U SPORTS level. The winningest coach in Ottawa Gee-Gees history after joining the program in June of 2010, Derouin brings a trophy case that includes the 2014 OUA Wilson Cup and three U SPORTS medals, a bronze in 2013 and silver in 2014 and 2015.
He also brings a local connection to a team with U SPORTS talents, including Maxime Boursiquot and Guillaume Pepin from his Ottawa Gee-Gees, Aiden Warnholtz from the Carleton Ravens and Nervens Desmothene of the Saskatchewan Huskies.
His first opportunity with the BlackJacks will come almost immediately as they head to Memorial University Fieldhouse in Newfoundland for their first-ever meeting against the Growlers on Sunday, June 5 at 3:00 pm.