Romel Raffin

Last updated
Romel Raffin
Personal information
Born (1954-04-23) April 23, 1954 (age 71)
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight216 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school Eastwood Collegiate
(Kitchener, Ontario)
College Penn State (1974-78)
Calgary (1979-80)
Position Center
Number13
Career highlights
Medals
Representing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Universiade
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1983 Edmonton National team

Romel Raffin (born April 23, 1954) is a former Canadian basketball player and four-time Olympian. [1] [2] [3] He is the only four-time Olympian in Canadian basketball history. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

High school

Raffin played at the high school level for Eastwood Collegiate Institute. [1] [2] He didn't begin playing basketball until his 12th grade. [1] [2] He and his teammates won the city and provincial championships, with Raffin being named the MVP of the provincial tournament. [1] [2]

University

Raffin played for Penn State from 1974-1978. [7] [8] [9] For the 1979-80 season, Raffin played for the University of Calgary, where he was named a first-team Canada West conference all-star. [10] [11]

International

Raffin played for the Canada men's national basketball team beginning in 1974 and ending in 1988. [12] [13] This included being on four different teams which qualified for the Olympics (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988). [1] [2] [3] Raffin is the only athlete in Canada basketball history to be named to four different Olympic teams. [4] [5] [6]

1988 Olymipcs

Raffin represented Canada in the 1988 Olympics. [14] [15] [16] Raffin was named Canada's team captain in these Olympics. [2]

Raffin performed well in these Olympic games, being Canada's second overall leader in assists (despite being a center) and being Canada's third overall leader in rebounds. [17] [18] Raffin had a notable performance against Spain, where he led all players in rebounds (8) and led Canada in assists (4). [19] Canada finished 6th overall in these Olympics. [17] [18] [20]

1984 Olympics

Raffin represented Canada in the 1984 Olympics. [9] [16] [21] Canada performed well in the tournament, finishing fourth overall after narrowly losing the bronze medal game. [22] [23] [24] This 1984 bronze-medal game constituted the only time in the past 80+ years where Canada had a legitimate chance of winning an Olympic medal in basketball. [24] This bronze medal game was highly competitive, being tied 18 times with 12 lead changes, with Canada being within one point with less than a minute of play remaining. [24]

1983 World Student Games

Raffin also represented Canada in the 1983 World Student Games, where Canada won gold. [25] [26] In the semifinal match of this tournament, Canada defeated a talented US team led by future NBA hall of famers Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. [27] [28] This 1983 gold medal win constituted one of the finest moments in Canadian basketball history, being the only time in which Canada has won the gold medal in an international basketball tournament. [29] [30] [31]

1980 Olympics

Raffin was named to the national team that qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. [3] However, Raffin and his teammates were unable to compete in these 1980 games given that Canada boycotted said Olympics as a result of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. [32]

This 1980 Canadian men's team was positioned to perform well in these Olympics given that Canada competed for the bronze medal in the Olympic games preceding and following these 1980 Olympics (1976, 1984) [22] [33] and this time in Canadian basketball has been described as "arguably the Canadian national team's greatest era" and "Canada's golden age of basketball". [26] [34]

1976 Olympics

Raffin represented Canada in the 1976 Olympics. [3] [7] [15] Canada performed well in these Olympics, again participating in the bronze medal game and finishing fourth overall, [3] [14] [33] being one of the three times in the past 80 years in which Canada has competed for an Olympic medal in basketball. [24] Raffin in the only Canadian Olympian to compete for two Olympic medals in basketball. [4] [22] [33]

Raffin had noteworthy performances against Japan, where he scored 8 points in only 14 minutes of play [35] ; and against the Soviet Union, where he scored 8 points in only 17 minutes of play [36] .

Other international tournaments

Raffin represented Canada in additional international tournaments, including many Pan American Games, the 1974 FIBA World Championship, the 1980 American Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men, the 1984 American Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men and 1988 American Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men. [1] [2] [12] In the 1980 American Olympic qualifiers, Raffin was Canada's sixth overall scorer and in the 1988 American Olympic qualifiers, Raffin was second overall for Canada in rebounds per game. [37] [38]

Professional / semi-professional career

Raffin played multiple seasons professionally in Italy and Venezuela. [1] [7] [8] He also played in the Division One Senior Men's league in Calgary from 1981 to 1991, where he won numerous city championships. [1]

Post-career recognition

Raffin has been inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame (1996) [39] [40] ; the Ontario Basketball Hall of Fame (2008) [1] [41] ; and Eastwood Collegiate Institute's Wall of Recognition [2] [42] . The 1976 Canadian Olympic team, of which Raffin was part, was also inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame (2007). [43] [44]

Personal life

Raffin was born on April 23, 1954. [16] [21] He has been a high school teacher, a high school basketball coach and a high school athletic director. [2] [7] His brother, Angelo Raffin, played for the Canadian Football League. [15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Romel Raffin" (PDF). Ontario Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Romel Raffin". Eastwood Collegiate Institute. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Romel Raffin". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 "Canada in Basketball". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Men's basketball team named". The Ottawa Citizen. March 24, 1980. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  6. 1 2 Barr, Greg (April 18, 1980). "Men's basketball team pursues spot in Games". The Ottawa Journal. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Romel Raffin – Athlete" (PDF). Canada Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Romel Raffin". U Sports Hoops. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Romel Raffin". Sports Reference. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  10. ↑ "1979-80 Basketball Final CWUAA Statistics" (PDF). Canada West. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  11. ↑ "Award Winners for Canada West First Team All-Star". U Sports Hoops. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Romel Raffin". FIBA. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "Romel Raffin". FIBA Archive. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  14. 1 2 "Romel Raffin". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  15. 1 2 3 "Romel Raffin". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  16. 1 2 3 "Romel Raffin". Real GM. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  17. 1 2 "1988 Olympic Games Tournament for Men Canada Team Statistics". FIBA Archive. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  18. 1 2 "Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament 1988 Canada Statistics". FIBA. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  19. ↑ "Spain vs Canada". FIBA Archive. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  20. ↑ "1988 Olympic Games : Tournament for Men Standings". FIBA. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  21. 1 2 "Romel Raffin". Basketball Reference. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  22. 1 2 3 "1984 Olympic Games Tournament for Men Canada Statistics". FIBA Archive. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  23. ↑ "Yugoslavia vs Canada". FIBA Archive. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "Reflecting on when Karl Tilleman, Eli Pasquale, and Their Fellow Canadian University Teammates Took a Shot at Ruling the Basketball World". Somers Point News. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  25. ↑ "Vikings dominate national-team pool". The Times Colonist. May 29, 1983. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  26. 1 2 "Eli Pasquale". BC Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  27. ↑ "Eli Pasquale (MBB | Student-athlete)". Canada West Hall of Fame. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  28. ↑ "Eli Pasquale". UVic Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  29. ↑ "Canada wins gold medal in basketball". Ellensburg Daily Record. 12 June 1983. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  30. ↑ "Canada National Team Senior Achievements". FIBA. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  31. ↑ "Canada Team Event Participation". FIBA Archive. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  32. ↑ "Canada boycotts 1980 Moscow Olympics". CBC Archives. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  33. 1 2 3 "Event Standings". FIBA Archive. Archived from the original on August 13, 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  34. ↑ "Eli Pasquale, Olympian and Canadian Basketball Hall of Famer, dies at 59". CBC Sports. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  35. ↑ "Canada vs Japan". FIBA Archive. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  36. ↑ "Soviet Union vs Canada". FIBA Archive. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  37. ↑ "1980 FIBA AmeriCup Canada Statistics". FIBA. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  38. ↑ "FIBA AmeriCup 1988 Canada Statistics". FIBA. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  39. ↑ "Romel Raffin". Canada Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  40. ↑ "Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame". Canada One Foundation. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  41. ↑ "Hall of Fame". Ontario Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  42. ↑ "Eastwood's Wall of Recognition". Eastwood Collegiate Institute. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  43. ↑ "1976 Senior Men's Olympic Team". Canada Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  44. ↑ "1976 Senior Men's Olympic Team – Team" (PDF). Canada Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
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