The Athlete Institute is an athletic centre located in Mono, Ontario. It is made up of three facilities, the training centre, residence and the fieldhouse. The Institute is home to The Orangeville Prep Basketball Academy, who compete in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA). Orangeville District Secondary School provides academic instruction for the institute's students. As well as home to By Design Learning Centre, CrossFit Orangeville, Purple Owl Pilates and Athlete Institute Football Club. (AIFC) It was formerly home to the Orangeville A's of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC).
History The institute was founded in September 2010 by colleagues Jesse Tipping and Adam Hoffman. Tipping followed the dreams of his father, James, who wanted to create the best basketball facility in Canada. Tipping would later compete with the Brampton A's, an NBL Canada team owned by his family, which had grown rich through the trucking industry. The A's relocated to Orangeville and claimed the Athlete Institute as their home arena.
The Athlete Institute has received praise from several players, including local high school basketball player Jalen Poyser, who said, "I thought it was like an NBA facility when I got here." The Toronto Star credited the institute for attracting top talent from around the world. The newspaper also considered Tipping as one of the "five most important people in Canadian basketball."
In September 2014, the institute received significant exposure when highly touted 2016 NBA draft prospect Thon Maker joined the program; he went on to become the first high schooler to be taken in the first round of an NBA draft since 2005.
Orangeville Prep Orangeville Prep is the national team at Athlete Institute. They compete in The Grind Session in addition as the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA). In the 2019-20 OSBA season, Orangeville Prep won the championship, and had a 19–0 record in the regular season.
The team and the school are the subject of the 2021 CBC Television documentary series Anyone's Game.Debra Yeo, "CBC's fall slate includes a series about an Orangeville basketball school". Toronto Star, May 27, 2020.
+2020-21 Orangeville Prep RosterNumberPositionNameHeightGrad YearHometownPost-Secondary Commitment0PGJalik Dunkley-Distant6'32024Stoney Creek, Ontario1PGDarius DeAveiro5'112021Ottawa, OntarioValparaiso2SGJustice Gordon6'42022Milton, Ontario Wayne State3SFKhenyan Stirling6'52022Toronto, Ontario Toronto Metropolitan4PGJefferson Monegro6'42022LaSalle, QuebecWestern Michigan5SFEnoch Kalambay6'72022Gatineau, QuebecTallahassee CC6GWilson Dubinsky6'22021Ottawa, Ontario Seward County CC8SFJustin Chase6'62023Toronto, Ontario UNB10GJahnai Dunkley-Distant6'52024Stoney Creek, Ontario11SFMajambu Mbikay6'82022Châteauguay, Quebec Florida Southwestern CC12GAaron Aboonabi6'22023Guelph, Ontario13GJayden Samarasekera6'02023Hong Kong15PFRory Stewart6'92022London, United Kingdom Rhode Island21GIzan Rooke Mora6'02024Madrid, Spain24CMustafo Vanjov7'02022Tajikistan Curry College25GAlberto Menendez6'22022Waterloo, Ontario30GTristan Louka6'12023Richmond Hill, Ontario33GJonathan Gaspard5'112024Nepean, Ontario35GNishaan Singh5'112025Oakville, Ontario -Head coachTony McIntyre -Assistant coachOlivier Jean-Charles -Assistant coachJohn Sedore -Assistant coachKoven Padayachee -Strength & conditioning coachTyler Schneider
Notable alumni
Kyle Alexander (born 1996), basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League Ignas Brazdeikis, professional basketball player for Olympiacos Oshae Brissett (born 1998), professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv; formerly played in the NBA; former NBA champion Luguentz Dort (born 1999), professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder Matur Maker, professional basketball player for the Central Coast Crusaders Thon Maker, professional basketball player for the Fujian Sturgeons Jamal Murray (born 1997), professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets Howard Washington, professional basketball player for the Buffalo eXtreme
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