Eli Pasquale

Eli Pasquale took up basketball in high school, but did not begin to shine until he entered the University of Victoria. There, he helped the school capture five consecutive Canadian collegiate titles from 1980 through 1984 and earned a degree in economics. During that time, he débuted internationally with the Canadian team at the 1982 World Championships, where the country placed sixth. A year later, he helped Canada win gold at the Universiade and followed it up with bronze in that tournament in 1985. In-between he attended the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where Canada lost the bronze medal match to Yugoslavia. He was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics that year, but he was released after three exhibition games. He did eventually play professionally in Argentina, West Germany, and Spain, but although he tried out with the Chicago Bulls in 1985, he never joined the NBA officially.

Pasquale made a second Olympic appearance for Canada at the 1988 Seoul Games, where the nation placed sixth overall. He retired from active competition in 1992, although he had a brief comeback in 1997 before retiring for good. By career, he ran his own company, the Eli Pasquale Group, which ran youth basketball camps. He was made a member of the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.