By: Kaja Antic, Sports Writer
The final home and regular game of the season was Senior’s Night for the women’s basketball team against Western Washington in the West Gym. A big one-point win for SFU heading into the postseason was an important victory. It also served as longtime women’s basketball coach Bruce Langford’s 500th win — which he said almost didn’t come this season.
“We won the 499th game in Seattle, and we only had two games left against the two best teams in the west region,” Langford told The Peak. “The chances of us winning [were] very small, and so to win it against that calibre of team in our gym was a pleasant surprise.”
Langford became the women’s basketball coach in 2001 after a highly successful high school coaching career, replacing SFU Athletics Hall of Fame coach Allison McNeill. Going undefeated, 35–0, in his first season as coach, Langford earned Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Coach of the Year and the Red Leafs went on to win the national championship. The 2001–02 women’s basketball team would also end up in the SFU Athletics Hall of Fame for this achievement — one Langford largely credits to the talented roster McNeill had constructed before her departure.
“I probably, for the first few years, always wrestled with that a little bit [. . .] I always felt like it was her championship. And then in 2005, when we had an undefeated season and won a championship again, I kind of finally felt like, ‘Yeah, maybe this is going okay.’”
The team’s 2004–05 title win and undefeated reign earned Langford his second Coach of the Year designation. SFU went undefeated for 45 straight games, a streak that lasted over a year from October 8, 2004–October 29, 2005. The Red Leafs would go on to win three more CIS titles in 2006–07, 2008–09, and 2009–10, before leaving for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition.
Since the move to NCAA Div. II during the 2010–11 season, Langford has a 214–156 record. Langford passed McNeill (363–79) for career wins in the 2014–15 season, and has continued his winning ways since then. Through his decades of coaching at SFU, Langford has worked with many players from their freshman season to walking the stage at convocation.
“I think it’s nice to see people grow up in front of you and to try to have some positive influence in that as it happens.” Langford said of his coaching philosophy, “It’s an opportunity and chance to try to make people better.”
Langford has the impressive resume to back up his experience with successful teams. “A successful team has to be on the same page about a whole bunch of issues [ . . . ] There has to be a mutual respect that we’re all on the same mission together,” he mentioned.
Self-described as a competitive person working in a very competitive NCAA Div. II environment, Langford tries to create a schedule that tests the Red Leafs roster, competing with the best of the divisional best. “I don’t try to find the easiest games and build wins. I try to find games that will push us.
“Since we’ve gone to the American League, [we’ve] had trouble getting teams to come to us in Canada. I really worked hard to try to make sure we would have what I would consider a full schedule this year.”
SFU hosted the Conference Commissioner’s Association Division II Canadian Tip-Off Classic, with the Red Leafs losing all three games against higher ranked Div. II opponents. The tournament ran out of the Langley Events Centre with 2023 as its inaugural run. “We went and found the best teams that would come. By doing that, we almost gave ourselves three losses right off the bat because we got the best.
“Every day is a challenge when you’re in a league with competition that is all capable of beating anybody on any given day.”
With the Red Leafs 2023–24 season having come to an end after a 65–51 loss in the first round of the conference playoffs to Central Washington, Langford is already looking ahead to next season. “We would certainly like to try to win 20 games [and] try to go to nationals. That’s a goal every year, and it’ll be a challenge.
“I think I have a couple of years of coaching left, and I think that we’d like to [. . .] maximize the potential of each of the athletes and get to nationals and win some games. Do it with a team that likes each other, a team that’s enjoying themselves, and a team that’s hard working in the classroom and hard working on the court, doing some community service. That’s the future, and then, retirement.”
Langford’s team will be looking for his elusive 501st win when the 2024–25 season tips off this fall.
