Written by Thomas Scott
The Dalhousie Tigers have seen many great basketball players come and go. Many still play professionally, using the skills and values they learned with the Tigers.
Keevan Veinot (BComm’22) is a Dalhousie Tigers basketball legend, but his basketball career did not stop at Dal. After graduating, the guard travelled overseas to pursue his professional career. He played two seasons for LWD Aris Leeuwarden, a Dutch professional basketball club.
Now playing for the Port of Antwerp Giants, a Belgian professional basketball club, Veinot reflects on how the Tigers and men’s basketball Head Coach Rick Plato prepared him.
“Coach Plato always told us he wanted us to be great basketball players but also great people,” says Veinot.
The guard instantly excelled when going overseas to the Netherlands, averaging 17 points per game on 47.9 per cent shooting from the field through 32 games.
Plato’s coaching style helped prepare Veinot for his coaches overseas. The 2019-20 AUS MVP says he was surprised at how similar playing overseas was to playing for Dal.
While at Dal, the Port Williams, N.S. native averaged 12.9 points per game and was a three-time AUS champion. Veinot was instrumental in Dal’s run to the national final in the 2019-20 season.
The sense of community at Dal and within the basketball team is something Veinot will forever be grateful for, and his connection with Plato is one he will never take for granted.
“I know that if I need it, he'll always be there for me and vice versa. I’ll always be there for him,” says Veinot about his relationship with Plato.
Playing pro in Mexico
Sascha Kappos (BSc’20), a four-time AUS champion and a U SPORTS silver and bronze medalist, now plays in Mexico for Abejas, where he has played 38 games in the LNBP.
Kappos played high school basketball in Miami, FL, before heading to Dal to join the men’s basketball team. Kappos’ father had previously played with Plato for the Saint Mary’s University Huskies. This gave Kappos somebody he knew he could trust at Dal.
When playing for the Tigers, Dal emphasizes the importance of being a student to its student-athletes. Through help from the Black & Gold Student Success Program, student-athletes learn how to balance their time and priorities.
“It does help those first years coming in and understanding how to manage time,” says Kappos.
Averaging almost double-digit points this season on over 50 per cent shooting, Kappos has found his role on his fourth-seeded team in the LNBP. The forward brings plenty of experience, playing in five different professional leagues.
“I think understanding my role and fitting that role to the best of my ability is probably the biggest thing that I've learned here,” says Kappos.
The gold standard
Tessa Stammberger (BScK’16) remembers how committed her team's older players were to studies and athletics when she first got to Dal. This set the bar for the Halifax, N.S. native, who could see the culture of hard work already put in place by coaches and players on the women’s basketball team.
Her mother, Dal legend as both player and coach, Anna Stammberger, was a significant reason Stammberger came to Dal. Her mother has been instrumental in her basketball career and also played in Germany.
Stammberger averaged 12.6 points per game in her career as a Tiger. The forward’s most impressive season came in the 2015-16 season. In what was her final season as a Tiger, she averaged 17.6 points per game on 44.5 per cent shooting from the field and 42.3 per cent from beyond the arc, the highest in the conference.
Playing for Dal helped Stammberger have a career playing the game she loves. The values Dal has for excellence both on and off the court were apparent. She mentioned Anna von Maltzahn, a forward two years older than Stammberger. With her amazing work ethic, von Maltzahn’s set a standard for Stammberger.
“I just wanted to emulate her and how she played defence. I think that’s why I’m such a strong defender, and that’s what I’m known for here in Germany,” says Stammberger. “I’m a very strong defender who can defend multiple positions. I think it comes back to watching Anna play and trying to emulate her.”
Stammberger, whose father is German, played five years for TK Hannover in the DBBL. She joined ALBA Berlin for the 2022-23 season, proving a prosperous professional career playing several seasons in the DBBL.
“Wanting to have that kind of lifestyle as a professional athlete was always something that I thought was the coolest thing, and I really wanted that. Now I have it, and it's great,” says Stammberger.
Be sure to keep up with your Tigers in the new year for more stories about Dal alums.