The rise of Ryerson as a basketball power in this country has allowed something unexpected to happen — the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship will take place this week in Toronto.

Amazingly, despite the huge growth of hoops in this country over the past decade or so — especially the past few years — the CIS showcase has been held five times since 2008 in Ottawa, but not once in the epicentre of the surge.

“I just think it’s so cool for Toronto, so cool for the city, for our kids,” Ryerson head coach Roy Rana said on Monday afternoon, before Ryerson hosted the Canadian Basketball Speakers Forum.

“Hopefully we can pack this place and create a great environment because (the CIS is) a special level, I don’t think people really appreciate how good it is,” he said.

Ryerson, powerhouse Carleton — winner of four straight CIS titles and 10 in the past 12 years — Ottawa, Windsor, Victoria, Dalhousie, Bishop’s and Saskatchewan will comprise the field, with games starting on Thursday.

When Rana was hired in August of 2009, Canadians had not gone No. 1 overall in consecutive NBA drafts (as Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins have done the past two summers) and Toronto’s university programs were far short of being standouts.

But Rana had a dream to turn things around and to eventually bring this tournament to Toronto.

Both have now come to pass. Ryerson has increased its win total every year Rana has been at the helm and the team went 18-0 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, which was once Maple Leaf Gardens.

“I think the concern was could we build a program that could or would rightfully be a good host,” Rana explained.

“We didn’t want to be in the championship and be a sub-.500 team. When we went to nationals three years ago, I think that’s when the university started to realize you know this might be something we could go for that would be great for our university, we’d have the program that would represent.”

“It’s our opportunity to showcase it. To be able to do it right here at home, in this building, with the original roof on, there’s just so many great storylines and I think it’s nice that the first time ever in this city, it’s going to happen here at Ryerson.”

The Rams battled at the Ontario championship last week in the nation’s capital, but fell just short to standard-bearer Carleton, 84-80. “I think it was a little bit heartbreaking,” said a sighing Rana of that defeat, before turning positive. “We had a bunch of bounces didn’t go our way against Carleton, but, we’ve been saying all year long that we believe that we are worthy of being here, that we are one of the better teams in the country and that if we get on a roll at the right time, we can win it all. Hopefully that starts on Thursday, but Windsor’s no slouch and they are thinking the same thing.”

Because Windsor upset 18-1 Ottawa in the OUA tourney, the Lancers earned the second seed (behind Carleton) and ahead of Ottawa, while Ryerson was given the No. 7 seed, even though No. 6 Bishop’s went just 8-8 and No. 5 Dalhousie went just 8-8.

“It is tough the way the seeding works, I’m not going to lie about that, but it is what it is and we’ve got to work within that construct until that construct changes,” Rana said.

The bright side for Rana and his squad is because of the seeding, they won’t have to face the mighty Ravens until the final.

Of course a lot of basketball will be played before then.

Canada Basketball executive director Michele O’Keefe is thrilled it will be happening in Toronto, for once.

“I saw the streetcar wrapped in the advertisement and the signs down on the Gardiner (Expressway). It’s just exciting,” O’Keefe told the Sun.

O’Keefe believes the basketball buzz is spreading in this country.

“It sure seems like it doesn’t it? People are wanting to have the conversations. Before, you used to have to tie them down, now people are willingly engaging in conversations about basketball,” she said.

THINKING BIG

On her panel, titled Globalization and Future Directions — On the Court and in the Boardroom — O’Keefe told an appreciative crowd that Canada Basketball is thinking big.

“We’re planning for success and our plan is to beat the U.S.,” she said.

“If we’re not planning to beat the U.S., then we’re not doing our job.”

Big names in the States are definitely taking notice of what is happening here.

George Raveling, who gave a keynote speech to the media on Monday, is on the FIBA advisory board, is the director of international basketball for Nike and a long-time NCAA coach.

“The most consistent question I get from stop to stop is ‘hey, what’s going on up in Canada, how are they doing this?’ and people are intrigued, and people have heard ‘Oh Canada basketball, they’re on fire, they’ve got all these kids going to the States, and playing,’ but then it was all validated when you guys went back to back No. 1 draft picks, now you’ve really got people’s attention,” Raveling said.

MEMORIES

Former national team head coach, NBA first-round draft pick and current broadcaster Leo Rautins, who was speaking on a panel about basketball’s rise, said he could remember sneaking into Maple Leaf Gardens to play. “First place I saw a glass backboard was here,” Rautins recalled.

He also discussed how Canada went from a country with few basketball nets on driveways, to one with thousands of them and about how we are not done yet.

“I think we’ve just scratched the surface,” he said.

“There is so much more room for growth. It’s only going to get better.”