Chilliwack’s Greg DeVries was inducted into the Canada West Hall of Fame Wednesday night, recognized for a spectacular career that included back to back national championships.
DeVries played high school hoops in Nelson and during the 1991 season scored 82 points in a game. That stood as a B.C. record for 18 years.
DeVries went on to five seasons with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, where his teams qualified for three straight Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union finals (1994-96) and won titles in 1994 and 1995.
He was named a tournament all-star each of the three years.
“A renowned shooter, deVries graduated in 1996 as the team’s all-time leading scorer with 1,561 points, a record that would stand for nearly two decades,” said his Canada West Hall of Fame writeup. “DeVries was a two-time first team All-Canadian and received the Wilson Challenge Trophy, as the University of Alberta’s most outstanding male athlete during the 1994-1995 season.”
As of 2019, DeVries still held the Golden Bears record for career three pointers in Canada West action with 178, and in 2010 he was rewarded with a place on the University of Alberta’s Sports Wall of Fame.
Sharp academically, DeVries earned Academic All-Canadian honours in 1995 and 1996 and is now a teacher at Abbotsford Secondary School.
His son, Tyus, has followed in his footsteps as a basketball star.
A standout player with the Sardis Secondary School Falcons, Tyus is in his third year with the Thompson Rivers University Wolf Pack, where he’s hit double digits in scoring in 10 of the 14 Canada West games he’s played this season.
DeVries coached his son at Sardis for one season and coached at GW Graham for three years.