James Grant says he's ready to switch uniforms with the conclusion of Lambton College's men's basketball season.
The Lions' season ended recently with a 80-74 first-round playoff loss to the Loyalist Lancers at Lambton College.
The head coach of the Lions squad also serves as the college's manager of athletics and student life and the manager of the Sarnia Brigade Senior AAA baseball team.
Grant said he was proud of the basketball team's effort, noting they had a really young group.
"Going back a few years now, we won a bronze medal in Ontario and made another final four," said Grant. "After that final four team, you lose half of your team to graduation. This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year, I guess you could say. We just happened to get a fifth year guy back in Tyrelle Miller. Overall, we were 21-11 which is a good college basketball season. We're returning every player but one next season, so it's a great place to be right now for the program."
Grant said they've already started high performance training to build up for next season.
"Everybody is getting their protein into them and hitting the weights," he said. "We had a lot of first and second year guys and rebounding was a struggle. That's a strength thing right so, we'll take the next nine months to hit the gym and we'll be ready. This group will see a lot of gains, it should be a different story on the glass next year."
Grant said the men's basketball program has grown in popularity in recent years, and prospective players are taking notice.
"I'd say we're a known quantity in the basketball world in Ontario and Michigan for that matter," said Grant. "Even from across the country we have players reaching out. The nice gym that Lambton College built around the pandemic is a good selling feature as well with our change rooms and weight rooms and everything we can provide."
Grant is wishing the college's women's basketball team luck as they head to Hamilton on Saturday for a quarter final matchup with Mohawk.
Meanwhile, Grant said the Brigade is a hungry team again this year, after capturing the 2025 Gold Bat Invitational tournament.
After previously competing in the Southwestern League the squad will be matched up primarily against CanAM teams and Ilderton.
"It's going to be another year where I think we'll be in contention," he said. "We won a few years ago, and we have had three second place finishes since then and a third. I have really high hopes for these guys and it's the same core sticking around which is great for any ball club."
This year's Gold Bat Tournament is expanding from 12 to 16 teams and will include some Michigan-based teams. They're also hoping to have teams from Quebec and the Maritimes join in the future.
The Brigade's 2026 schedule has yet to be released, but they usually begin play in late April or early May.
You can hear more in the first episode of Sarnia-Lambton Beyond the Headlines, our new podcast that is available on most podcast platforms and at SarniaNewsToday.ca.
