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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 23 | Friday, December 20, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" It's all in the family Laurier guards are third generation of Coulthards to excel at basketball Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor Oakville Beaver hen soft-spoken Will Coulthard tied a Wilfrid Laurier University men's basketball single-game record by scoring 39 points against McMaster earlier this year, he likely attributed it to being a hot-shooting night or to getting lots of help from his teammates. A better explanation would have been genetics. To say Will and his brother Owen, both guards at Laurier, have basketball in their blood is like saying the Toronto Raptors have been known to lose the occasional basketball game. Will and Owen's father, David, was twice named Canadian Interuniversity Sport's player of the year while at York. Their mother, Terry, was a point guard for the McMaster women's team. Their uncles Chris and Bruce also played in university, W Brothers Will (left photo, in white) and Owen Coulthard are teammates this year with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks. Their parents both played university basketball as well, and their late grandfather will be inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame later this winter. | photos by Thomas Kolodziej -- courtesy of Wilfrid Laurier University as did cousin Brett, and 15-year-old cousin Sarah is viewed as one of the top young female players in the province. The patriarch of the Coulthard hardcourt heritage is Will and Owen's late grandfather Bill, a Buffalo native who was the Canadian senior champion Tillsonburg Livingstons' top scorer in two games at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. Bill, who David believes was the player in Ontario to utilize the nowstandard one-handed shot, will be inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame later this winter. "We've heard stories from (Bill) and my dad, but we never saw them play," said 20-year-old Will. "I wouldn't say it was... well, maybe it was a bit intimidating, trying to live in those footsteps. But we're just trying to make our own path." Will has certainly done that, going back to his high school days at St. Thomas Aquinas, when he helped the Raiders win a provincial double-A championship in 2009 and a bronze in 2010. Last season as a university sophomore, he ranked 10th in the CIS with 19.4 points a game. That included the 39-point outing against McMaster Jan. 7, followed a few days later by a 36-point effort against Windsor that featured seven three-pointers. This season, Will is averaging 14.4 points, 2.7 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game. Owen, two years Will's junior, is making an impact in his freshman campaign. He leads the team in three-point percentage for anyone with more than 15 attempts (42.3 per cent) and is fifth in scoring with 8.4 points per contest. "They're enjoying it a lot," David said of his sons' first opportunity to play together on a competititive team. "They have completely different roles, Will being a point guard and Owen being a (shooting) guard." see Parents on p.24 AVIGAYIL CASHED IN $1,384 FROM HER CLOSET! #EXCITED www.TrendTrunk.com Cash in your closet today at TrendTrunk.com