| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 17, 1948 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Lord Byng Secondary School (Vancouver, British Columbia) |
| College | University of British Columbia ("UBC") (1967–1971) |
| Position | Forward |
| Number | 8 |
| Career highlights | |
Derek Sankey (born December 17, 1948) is a former Canadian basketball player. He represented Canada in the 1976 Olympic games and many other international tournaments; was a Canadian university ("CIAU") champion; and has been inducted into many prestigious halls of fame as both a player and part of teams. [1] [2] [3]
Sankey represented Canada on their national team from 1970-76. [4] This included the 1976 Olympic games, where Canada competed for the bronze medal and finished fourth overall. [5] [6] This was one of the two times in the past 90 years in which Canada competed for an Olympic medal in basketball, the other being the 1984 Olympics. [7] A notable performance from Sankey in these Olympic games occurred against the Soviet Union, where Sankey led all Canadians with 18 points. [8] Sankey had the 7th highest points per minute among Canadians in these Olympics. [9] Sankey is the only University of British Columbia ("UBC") athlete to play for the Canadian men's Olympic basketball team. [4]
Sankey performed well in other national team international tournaments. Sankey represented Canada in the 1972 Pre-Olympic tournament, [1] [2] [10] where Sankey was the fourth-leading scorer in the tournament and led all Canadians with 22 ppg. [10] Canada finished 6th overall in this tournament. [11] Sankey also represented Canada in the 1970 FIBA World Championship, [1] [2] where he was Canada's second leading scorer overall with 13.1 ppg. [12] Sankey also represented Canada in the 1970 World Student Games and the 1975 Pan American Games. [1] [2]
Before university, Sankey played at the high school level at Lord Byng Secondary School. [13] [14] [15]
Sankey played for the UBC Thunderbirds from 1967-71. [4] [13] In the 1969-70 season, UBC won the Canadian university CIAU national championship, [4] [13] [16] the first national championship for UBC. [4] [17] [18] This season, UBC went undefeated against CIAU competition (23-0). [16] [19] UBC decisively won the national championship game against McMaster University by 21 points (96-75). [4] [16] [19] In this season, Sankey was selected as a CIAU tournament all-star [13] [20] [21] and as a CIAU All-Canadian honourable mention. [13] [22] In the 1970-71 season, Sankey was selected as a WCIAA conference first-team all-star. [13] [23]
Sankey has been inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame (1994), [1] the Basketball BC Hall of Fame (2007) [2] and the UBC Sports Hall of Fame [4] . Teams on which he played have also been inducted into prestigious halls of fame: the 1976 Canadian Olympic team was inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame (2007) [3] and the 1969-70 UBC Thunderbirds team was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame (1993). [16]
Sankey was born on December 17, 1948 in Vancouver, British Columbia. [1] [5]