Derek Sankey

Derek Sankey (born December 17, 1948) is a former Canadian basketball player. He represented Canada in the 1976 Olympic games and many other international tournaments; was a Canadian university ("CIAU") champion; and has been inducted into many prestigious halls of fame as both a player and part of teams.

International career Sankey represented Canada on their national team from 1970-76. This included the 1976 Olympic games, where Canada competed for the bronze medal and finished fourth overall. This was one of the two times in the past 90 years in which Canada competed for an Olympic medal in basketball, the other being the 1984 Olympics. A notable performance from Sankey in these Olympic games occurred against the Soviet Union, where Sankey led all Canadians with 18 points. Sankey had the 7th highest points per minute among Canadians in these Olympics. Sankey is the only University of British Columbia ("UBC") athlete to play for the Canadian men's Olympic basketball team. where Sankey was the fourth-leading scorer in the tournament and led all Canadians with 22 ppg. Sankey also represented Canada in the 1970 FIBA World Championship, Sankey also represented Canada in the 1970 World Student Games and the 1975 Pan American Games.

Sankey played for the UBC Thunderbirds from 1967-71. the first national championship for UBC. This season, UBC went undefeated against CIAU competition (23-0). UBC decisively won the national championship game against McMaster University by 21 points (96-75). and as a CIAU All-Canadian honourable mention. In the 1970-71 season, Sankey was selected as a WCIAA conference first-team all-star.

Post-career recognition Sankey has been inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame (1994), the Basketball BC Hall of Fame (2007) and the UBC Sports Hall of Fame. Teams on which he played have also been inducted into prestigious halls of fame: the 1976 Canadian Olympic team was inducted into the Canada Basketball Hall of Fame (2007) and the 1969-70 UBC Thunderbirds team was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame (1993).

Personal life Sankey was born on December 17, 1948 in Vancouver, British Columbia.