Lessons are learned more often in losses than in wins in professional sport and unfortunately for the Saskatchewan Rattlers, that’s been the case over the 2025 Canadian Elite Basketball League season.
Stumbling out of the gate with a 2-7 start, it’s been a learning process not only for the Rattlers’ group of rookies but first-year head coach Eric Magdanz as well.
“It’s been a growing opportunity for me,” said Magdanz. “We’ve been in a bunch of close games here that we’ve wanted to get over the hump. We haven’t quite had the accomplishments yet that we’ve wanted, but we’re right there.”
Named the Rattlers’ fifth head coach in franchise history back in March, Magdanz was promoted from his role as the team’s lead assistant coach which he served in for three seasons.
Though the wins have been few and far between in his first nine games at the helm of the team, his offensive instincts have stood out according to starting guard Jamir Chaplin.
“Coach really has a great mind for the offensive flow,” said Chaplin. “When he runs plays it’s pretty good for us. Getting either inside or finding the hot hand and stuff like that, or switching the matchups that we want. But his offensive scheme is really good.”
According to Magdanz, the biggest adjustments have come in understanding the working mechanisms behind the scenes of the CEBL franchise and establishing new relationships with his roster, even those who he’s worked alongside in previous years.
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They include guard Isaac Simon, who is playing the most minutes of his professional career so far under Magdanz.
“I’ve been blessed to be with him the last three seasons and I’m happy for him that he got that head coaching job,” said Simon. “Everyone here believes in him, he’s been doing a good job. We just got to help him out and get some wins.”
While the Rattlers have been injected with a new structure with Magdanz’s promotion, they’ve struggled to gain overall consistency as the team nears the midway mark of the CEBL season sitting last place in the Western Conference.
Beginning the season with an 0-4 start, Saskatchewan bounced back in late May and early June with back-to-back wins against a pair of powerhouses in the Niagara River Lions and Calgary Since.
Since then, the Rattlers have not been able to build on those wins with a trio of losses to the Vancouver Bandits, Scarborough Shooting Stars and Winnipeg Sea Bears being outscored 293-253 over that span.
“At the end of the day us as players, we got to execute (Magdanz’s) game plan a lot better,” said Rattlers guard Cody John. “He’s doing his part, but as players we’re not doing ours and we need to pick it up for sure.”
Moving from an assistant coaching role to the Rattlers’ head coach position has meant becoming a bit more of a disciplinarian for Magdanz, a transition which he’s still trying to evolve on.
“I’ve had to change my role within them,” said Magdanz. “Had to get one them a little bit more and change as the person who is setting that accountability for them. The previous relationship, they know it’s coming from a place of love and where I want the best for them. But in order for us to be successful, that accountability has to be there.”
Growing up in Lloydminster, Magdanz is Saskatchewan’s first home-grown head coach since the early days of the franchise when the team was led by Greg Jockims and Chad Jacobson.
With that background, he added he’s eager to return the Rattlers to their 2019 championship glory and overcome the steep hill the team faces over the back half of the CEBL regular season.
“Saskatchewan born and raised,” said Magdanz. “Saskatoon is my home now and I’m very proud to be a part of this community. To be able to represent Saskatchewan as a whole is huge. To be able to go out there, hear my name called, have my family in the stands to cheer us on, it gives us a lot of energy to want to get back to work and bring a successful team here.”
Adding to their offence, Saskatchewan announced the signing of franchise leading scorer Devontè Bandoo who previously played for the Rattlers between 2020-2022 scoring 584 points over three seasons.
The Rattlers will aim to end their three-game losing streak on Friday night, visiting the Brampton Honey Badgers (2-7) at 6 p.m.
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